


Team MYND

by Louiseflower117



Category: RWBY
Genre: I made my friends into a RWBY team, fighting but not overly graphic, mild swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-29 12:57:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6375661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louiseflower117/pseuds/Louiseflower117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team MYND uncover their past and their future in various adventures, fights and Chinese food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day in the life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets called out on what seems at first to be any other mission, but what unforeseen consequences will it hold for them?

“Yakir no! We are not having steak again today! We had it two days ago!”

Looking disappointed at their question as to what Nara was making for dinner, the Faunus left the kitchen, tail swishing slightly as the the cook contemplated throwing something at them the next time they asked that question. Yakir was small - or what Nara called 'funsized' their short black, shaggy hair that hid most of their face and created a 'bored' look about them- and Yakir nearly always bored, but the spikey tuft ends by their neck made them look exceedingly childlike. Soft facial features and a petite frame didn't help with that. However their arms and legs were muscular and dense, like a feline, always tensed and ready to pounce. The black scarf was a permanent feature, which they tucked their nose into when they got a little cold, so their breath would caress their features. The light purple tank top and white jeans, along with sturdy boots, could be summed up with one word: practical.

 

Nara was the odd one out; with ith a short blonde under cut, a light blue blouse a grey waist coat and a little dinky black bow tie. First glance most people thought she was an academic, soemthign she certainly had the intelligence to be, if she'd have wanted to be. But her demure and attitude towards life wasn't compatible with that kind of lifestyle. Growing up in a circus wasn't the usual upbringing, but it had made her reflexes razor sharp and made sure she was always level headed in a crisis. She had brilliant blue eyes and a big grin to go with them, though there was nearly always a sarcastic comment for anyone who messed with her, or her teammates.

 

Shrugging off the slim, fitted waistcoat and putting it over the back of a kitchen chair, rolling up the light blue fabric that were her shirt sleeves before opening the fridge, running a critical eye over the contents. It occurred to Nara that not one of them had gone shopping in the past week at least, explaining just why the cupboards were as bare as they were. Sighing, running her hand roughly through her short blonde hair before starting to pull what remained in tins and jars out- she took no small amount of pride in making sure everyone ate healthy whenever they could.

“No wonder we end up getting take away so much…”

Still, that wasn’t happening tonight, so Nara started planning out another meal of odds and ends, wondering why she even bothered to try keeping everyone eating healthy at this point. It never seemed to meet with much success, or much appreciation at times.

“Nara, are you using your throwing knives to chop potatoes, _again?!”_

“We don’t even own any proper kitchen knives Mal!”

Turning round, Nara looked up at the team leader, Maleficent, standing there with one hand on her hip, long red hair a little wind-swept and pleated white skirt a little creased, dog lead still in hand, as the black-and white collie dog came bounding up to Nara, jumping up to put her muddy paws on Nara’s relatively clean cropped jeans.

 

Maleficent had crimson red hair, with a full fringe the went down her chest. It was shaggy and layed but it defined her pale, round face. Every part of her was defined: large, galaxy like eyes, thin but strong fingers and a cupids bow mouth giving a half smile. She had heavy symmetrical winged eyeliner, so sharp it look like it was tattooed onto her eyelids. Dark rouge lips that made her vibrant hair stand out even more. Her height and strong features gave her a sense of power and royalty  that no one could explain, however it didn't make her fearsome or unreachable, only made her seem more humble in her nature.

 

“Whopper no! Down girl!”

The collie paid no attention, tail wagging furiously as Nara lent down to fuss the over-excited dog, light blue eyes closed tight as the dog covered her face in ‘kisses’, only moving away when Diana stepped into the room, the extremely tall girl dropping to her knees and letting Whooper cover her in fluff and muddy paws, not caring at all that both the black and the white fur showed up clearly on her burgundy skirt and that the mud would probably stain her maroon armour, along with the brown patches on the red and black of her strapless fitted top. Her piercing red eyes were soft, and her long waves of hair was like golden syrup cascading down her back and around her face. No one had heard her walk through, because despite being the tallest, her footsteps were always silent and innocent niavity in this new world made her listen much more than she spoke up.

 

“Whooper! You enjoy your walk girl?”

The barks of excitement and furiously wagging tail gave the collie’s answer, as Diana stood up, making the futile attempt to brush the fur off.

“Alright everyone, out of my kitchen please!”

“Come on Whooper,”

About thirty seconds after the dog and half the team had left the kitchen, Yakir reappeared, sitting up on one of the tall chairs at the breakfast counter, bare feet planted on the seat away from the cold kitchen floor tiles and long, fluffy tail curled up out of the reach of any collie that might happen to take interest in it. It was a common enough place for them to sit that Nara didn’t even notice they were there until she realised someone kept stealing bits of tuna. Glaring up at the Fanus, they made no sign that they’d been caught other than to give a slight flick of their tail, each black rosette bold against the white.

“Can’t you even wait til it’s ready?”

“I’m hungry…”

“You had lunch! How can you be that hungry that you can’t wait another half an hour before dinner?”

“Lunch was salad Nara. Salad.”

“It was chicken salad!”

“Still mostly leaves…”

With a huff, the bowl of tinned tuna was moved out of Yakir’s reach, as Nara went back to chopping up veggies, wondering what else would be acceptable to throw into a pasta bake. After a few minutes, Yakir offered to help, and Nara was able to put most of the boring job of peeling and such onto the the Fanus, who was more than happy to have an excuse to say no when Diana came through asking for volunteers to help wash Whooper, who was still muddy from her walk.

“Come on Yakir, you never help with Whooper!”

“I’m not a dog person.”

“Come on! Or are you scared of a little water?”

The look the Fanus gave Nara was clearly begging her to throw something at Diana, making her giggle as she turned away to drain the cooked pasta and start layering everything into the glass baking dish, refusing to get involved. Yakir had never liked the idea of the team getting a dog in the first place, with many a pointed question as to how it would possibly help them all be better fighters, and being left very unsatisfied by the answers of ‘by boosting team moral!’

Popping the dish into the oven under a covering lid of tinfoil, Nara turned back to the counter, where Yakir had already slipped down from their seat to help stack everything into the dishwasher, meaning in less than a minute the kitchen was returned to its pristine state.

Even as Nara lent back against the counter, Yakir was back up in their seat, though this time they had Soulsiphon, their weapon, with them. With practised ease, the weapon was soon laid out in pieces across the breakfast counter, the axe blade and short  double edge knife blade that were normally found at opposite ends of the handle bar now lay beside each other, and the many intricate little pieces that made up the shotgun part, the same end as the axe blade, were spread out in organised chaos, carefully being cleaned.

“Once again, I’m reminded how thankful I am that I didn’t end up with some sort of gun.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t end up with clown shoes as a weapon, seeing as you grew up in the circus.”

Even though it was only teasing, and Yakir followed the comment with a brief smile up at her, Nara couldn’t help feeling a little defensive over her circus upbringing.

“Hey, what problem do you have with circuses?”

“Nothing, just not my kinda place, that’s all. I get stared at enough, no need to advertise myself.”

Nara huffed slightly, but didn’t reply. It was a fair enough point, as even by Faunus standards, Yakir was a little odd, with both ears and a tail, while nearly all others had only one visible feature. It didn’t seem to bother them, but it was always accompanied by a sour, defensive tone of voice whenever it came up in discussion.

The odd air in the room was broken as Maleficent walked into the room, looking more than a little annoyed as she started down at her scroll.

“Sorry guys, but we’ve got a job. They heard something about a potential White-Fang attack on the docks, they want us to go down and guard it for the night.”

“Isn’t that what the regular army is for?”

“I guess, but it sounds like it could be serious, so they want us there as backup, just in case.”

Turning round with a huff, Nara flicked the oven off; eating before a big fight was never a good idea. Yakir was reassembling their weapon, putting it over one shoulder. The other two shared a glance, what with the White-Fang meaning they’d have to fight Faunus, but the notion didn’t seem to affect Yakir  in the slightest.

“I’ll go get Diana.” They said, slipping down off the chair again, turning to climb up the stairs at the back of the kitchen to find her. Normally, the prospect of fighting Grimm put them into a mood almost capable of being described as bubbly, but not this.

* * *

“There’s no one here, it’s cold, and I’m hungry.”

The other three glared back at Diana, who quickly looked back through her sniper scope, but refused to look apologetic for breaking the silence. It was a view that Nara couldn’t help but agree with, but it wasn’t something any of them could do anything about.

Maleficent paced, Coscoroba, her scythe, already drawn in anticipation as she scanned for even the slightest signs of movement, constantly shifting her grip on the long handle, agitation clear in every movement and look. By comparison, Yakir was unusually stoic in the face of a potential fight, crouched down on top of a stack of shipping containers beside Diana, who was using it as a scouting post, weapon still clipped across their back.

“West entrance, White-Fang. At least a dozen of them so far, looks like more behind them as well.”

Maleficent was the first to descend on them, scythe swinging to send one flying into the nearest container wall with far more force than was strictly necessary. The others, alerted that they had been discovered, turned to defend themselves.

Nara was almost directly behind Mal, opting instead to let the nearest one charge at her before tripping him, a quick blow to the head and they were out, glancing up to see Maleficent already in the thick of the action, Coscoroba twirling about to strike down any and all with little more than blunt force, all of the usual finesse Mal normally possessed when fighting completely gone. Nara only had a few seconds to watch though, before the next person was trying to decapitate her.

Diana dropped down, finding her back against a container as she drew Motlyposa up against her shoulder, the curved blade black in the lack of light, before she stepped forward with a twirl, sparks flying as her blade met another.

Yakir found themselves trading blows with a much taller deer Faunus, easily deflecting each blow, but unable to find or create an opening to strike back in.

“Come on then! Or are you just scared ‘cos we can fight back!”

Everyone turned towards Maleficent, the rest of the team in slight shock at just how angry she was, before they noticed her hands shake slightly and the still standing members of the White-Fang were lifted by an unseen force high into the air. For a moment, they floated, before the force let them go, and they all went tumbling back down, landing with the sickening crunch of bone splintering against the metal containers and hard concrete.

Nara and Diana started, speechless at their friend, watching her sink to her knees as she caught her breath, the effort needed to use her semblance on such a large scale leaving her drained.

“Mal…?”

Diana was at her side first, helping her up to her feet as Nara looked round, seeing the regular army moving in, once again on cleanup duty it seemed, Yakir walking over to stand behind Nara’s shoulder, like the shortest member of the team would somehow hide them.

“Guys, let's just go home…”


	2. Sheding light on the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the previous night's fight, tensions boil over into a bad situation

Dawn had been broken less than an hour when the team stumbled back into their little home, greeted by the familiar usual sight of mismatched furniture; tatty and second hand even before the team had acquired each piece. It was cosy- but it looked a bit like a thrift shop.

“I can't believe the White-Fang actually showed up, you think they wouldn't be stupid enough to try and attack a heavily guarded dock.” Diana said as she flopped down in the nearest chair. “No offense Yakir, bu-”

“I know what you meant Diana.” came the deafened, almost reflexive response, but it was in an unusually short tone of voice, as the Fanuns found themselves curling into the corner of the sofa, fluffy white and black rosette covered tail over their legs, just the end flicking with agitation. Nara slumped down into a worn leather armchair, putting her feet up on the stained coffee table; they still weren't entirely sure if some of the stains were drink or blood.

Maleficent paced back and forth, preventing everyone else from settling like they normally would after a hard fight. Crimson hair bobbing and flowing over her back as her white skirt fluttered, all the while muttering incoherently to herself. Diana and Nara shared a slight look, as the pair noticed Yakir was refusing to make eye contact with anyone, and that their leader's frustration wasn't ebbing away any time soon. She had been a little off during the fight, being far more aggressive than the others had ever really seen her be, like the White-Fang’s attack was a personal insult. Despite them having known each other for a long time, the team leader was very reserved, not talking a great deal about herself and no one had the heart to try and force her to share. Yakir had been off as well, but only in that they had shown only cold indifference to fighting other Fanuns, when normally against Grimm they seemed to be at their happiest. That was much more understandable though, whereas to Malificent it should just have been another job.

“Hey Mal? You okay? Something bothering you?” Nara asked softly, waiting for their leader to stop pacing, which she did, turning to look at the three of them only for a split second each.

“Nothing, I'm fine.” came the reply, so obviously a lie she didn't even seem to convince herself.

“We're just worried about you-”

“We just want to help.”

Diana and Nara both looked to Yakir, waiting for them to add their own version, but saw only the cold yet apologetic look on their face, turned towards the floor. The attention of the two triggered the attention of the third, and Maleficent's anger only grew.

“What, you gonna tell us all that you just had to fight against your friends, your family or something like that?” The angry tone made Yakir flinch, but it was clear from the lack of a response the answer would be a yes, causing a brief moment silence, before Yakir's unresponsiveness started to add to Maleficient's anger

“I told you before, I left that life a long time ago...“

“So what, you're reformed, but you don't wanna fight back in case the guy behind the mask is someone you used to love?” Maleficent only seemed to grow angrier, glaring with her hand resting on the scythe folded against her hip, not that Yakir seemed to be putting up much of a defense of themselves.

“I was never a part of that- I swear! Peaceful protests are one thing, but when families are murdered in their beds… that isn't right… no one deserves that...”

A brief, beggingly apologetic glance from floor to Maleficent's face, before reverting back to the floor. Silence again, a mixture of confusion between Diana and Nara who looked to each other in hopes of some sort of explanation only to see a mirror of confusion. Turning to their leader and the Faunus for any sort of explanation.

“You knew all along... didn't you?!”

“Mal… no… I am, I am your friend!”

“But you had to have been there! why would you even say that if you weren't?! What, were you lookout while the rest did the deed?! Or did you just turn a blind eye?! Welcome them home after a successful _mission_?!?!” It was clear that Mal was struggling to keep her composure.

Yakir was about to try and explain, before their words were cut off before they could start, as the sharp point of Cosorcobra imbedded itself in the sofa where Yakir had been sitting. Already having scrambled out of the way, as the scythe was yanked free, pulling out a long trail of stuffing.

“Wow, Mal, calm down! I'm sure we can just talk about this like-”

“THEY KILLED MY FAMILY!!!” Anger and betrayal flooded through Maleficent even as she tried to stop it.

Nara looked with confusion and shock at being cut off as Maleficent glared down at Yakir, where they were still on the floor, before slowly looking up. The hurt and loss in Mal's galaxy eyes staring straight into Yakir's green ones was unbearable.

“Mal… I'm sorry…” It was an admission of guilt, maybe it was just for the lies, but from where the three stood, it sounded like so much more than just that; it sounded like a guilty conscious much older and deeper than just a few white lies.

“You. Killed. Them.”

The scythe fell again, but Yakir rolled away, snatching up their axe from where it leant against the wall as they picked themselves up, eyes blown wide. Glaring at them, her eyes were fixated on their defensive stance. They looked so impossibly innocent and apologetic it seemed unreal.

“Mal… please… I didn't-”

“You killed my family… you’re responsible!” Yelled Maleficent swinging her scythe in the middle of their small living room. Hitting walls and smashing lights as Nara and Diana stood as far away as they could; not wanting to get themselves involved or they wouldn't have a head. The next strike sent a cobweb of cracks across the wall as Yakir flinched away, before running from the room, stumbling as they glanced back over their shoulder several times. Maleficent wasn't far behind, seething rage and utter betrayal. They’d been friends since they first met here in Haven, protecting each other as teammates, when all this times, Yakir had just been looking for a chance to finish the job.

“Mal, listen to me, I didn’t-”

Metal against metal, as they used the handle of their axe to deflect the slice of the scythe once, twice, a third time. With each strike, Yakir took another step backwards, tried to speak, was forced to defend themselves instead. Until the fourth blow was aimed at their legs, tripping them to the ground, Soulsiphon clattering to the ground out of reach. Yakir looked up, seeing the shaking hands on Cosocorba shift and then go steady, the cold light behind Maleficent’s eyes as she prepared to raise the scythe in what would be a graceful but deadly arc.

“Maleficent! Stop this!” Diana yelled, distracting her long enough that Yakir could kick her legs out from underneath her, before rolling into a stand themselves. Axe in hand, they turned tail, running down the street, pushing through the people that got in their way.

Maleficent grunted as she fell to her knees but quickly and gracefully got up, twisting the shaft of Cosocorba in opposite directions causing metallic clicks, before the chain from inside the pole was visible and the scythe was swung in circles not to hit Yakir directly, but to send a hail of metal feathers at them, none of which found their mark as they were pulled to the ground before finding their mark or striking any of the civilians, common folk caught up in the confusion as they watched. Huntsmen and Huntress were meant to defend them, to see them fighting against each other was rare. Whipping round with a glare, she saw Nara drop her hand back to her side.

“Mal, stop.”

“They killed my family, Nara!" Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, before she hid her face in her hands, screaming silently.

Diana stepped forwards, gently pulling the scythe from Maleficent’s unresisting grip, letting it fold back into its compact form as she hung her head, red hair spilling from across her shoulders to hide her face. Nara took hold of Mal’s arm, pulling her back into the little building that was their current home. Tears trickled down the side of her face without so much as a sob.

“What's going on? Mal, you just tried to kill Yakir!”

Maleficent flopped down into the nearest seat, which just so happened to be where Yakir had been sat, and the stuffing was starting to come out of the puncture where her scythe had nearly struck the Faunus. Picking at it idly, she ignored the looks demanding an explanation for a short while.

“Maleficent isn't my real name…”

Neither of the others spoke, a brief nod from Nara and a vague hand motion to continue talking.

“My real name is Seraphina, Seraphina Swan. I'm the only one left, but the Swan family was once a powerful family in Vacous… until the White-Fang showed up one night…”

Hanging her head,  she looked down to the folded Cosocorba in her lap, the black and white features of the swan's head clearly visible. She brushed her fingertips against it lightly, feeling the thin scratches that it had gained over its many years of service, for her and her family.

“They showed up at night… killed everyone… I got away, but… they had to have been… I knew I'd seen them before… but they were still part of it!”

Nara and Diana looked to each other briefly, before they both leant down and wrapped Maleficent in a tight hug. Seraphina put her arms around them in return, as she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes before they spilt over, before Nara gently wiped them away.

“I'll go find Yakir… they can't have gotten far…”

Nara nodded, as Diana left the pair, shouldering Motylposa as she brushed past the dented wall to start her search.

* * *

“Hey, watch it!”

Yakir didn't stop to apologise to whoever it was they'd bumped into, it hadn't been the first person to get in the way. It wasn't many more blocks to the edge of the city, and then they were free; more likely to find a Grimm than one Fanuns that didn't want to be found.

Grass, soft and springy beneath their boots, they had to pause, sinking down to their knees slowly: gathering strength, not breath.

_You knew this would happen. You knew she'd realise who you really were eventually. What, did you kid yourself into thinking that she'd be okay with it? That she'd brush it off, and you could still be friends? Idiot, you know the world isn't nearly that kind._

Standing again, with one deep breath, Yakir started walking forwards again. Yes, they'd know it wouldn't end well, but it was only human nature to want it to end differently.

_Idiot, you're not human are you? Forget about that fluffy tail and ears of yours? Don't think just ‘cos you’re a Huntsman now that they like you. No matter what you do, someone is always going to look at you and see an animal, not a person._

_So why stay? Go be a Huntsmen on your own: sure, there'll probably always be more Grimm out there, but it's the only work you can do on your own out here._

Un-shouldering Soulsiphon, looking down at the sharp black blade, Yakir looked out across the mud and grass out here beyond the border of the city. Plenty of Grimm out there somewhere, only challenge now to find them.

* * *

Seraphina was still sat on the sofa, but the tears had ended a long time ago, though the offered cup of tea was more than welcome to warm her hands around. Nara dropped gently down next to her, can of grape drink open and in hand.

“I can't even believe Yakir was part of the White-Fang… let alone that they'd try and do something like that...”

“They did a good job of hiding it…”

“But still… they don't even blink an eye at comments that anyone would be forgiven for reacting badly to.” Nara's tone was light, attempting to chase away the dark cloud hanging in the air around their team leader.

“Guess they get back at it by plotting to wipe out humanity or something…” came Seraphina's bitter reply.

* * *

Diana stopped short at the edge of the city, there had been plenty of people willing to point her in the direction Yakir had taken, as they were more than a little distinctive against the general flow of the normal path traffic. But here, where the city ended, there was no one else to ask, and no clues on where they might have gone. She paused briefly, closing her eyes against the early morning sun.

* * *

Pausing briefly, to stand still and close their eyes against the bright midday sun, Yakir took several, steadying breaths. Twenty four hours ago they’d been discussing which film to watch with the rest of the team, twelve hours ago the team had been called out to deal with the threat of a potential White-Fang attack, three hours ago they’d fought with someone they’d counted among their only close friends.

It was the familiar click of the portal opening that had Yakir’s sensitive ears twirling round, pinpointing the noise. Through the red border, the scenery was very different, with the clear view of Diana on the other side. Reaching instinctively over the shoulder for their axe, Diana proved to have the faster reaction time.

The bullet pinged off the metal blade, the only thing that had stopped it going between their eyes, which were suddenly blown wide in fear. Even Diana wasn't quite sure she'd pulled the trigger, momentarily stunned by the fact she'd just aimed a kill shot at someone who was supposed to be her friend.

_What's happened to us all?_

The seconds or so of inaction allowed Yakir to launch themselves through the portal, onto the crest of the hillock that Diana had been using as a scouting post, bodily slamming into her.

The two went tumbling down together, Soulsiphon and Motylposa knocked away out of reach by the impact. As they both grunted and winced at the sudden impact, Yakir rolled away, snatching up their axe again, as they did so, meaning they were on their feet by the time Diana had regained enough sense to grab at her weapon.

“Yakir, listen. You have to come ba-”

Cut off by the need to defend herself, Diana closed her eyes against the grating sounds of the metal blades scraping against each other as for a moment, the pair attempted to push the other a step or two backwards to little effect, til Yakir’s grip shifted to send the taller girl back to the floor.

“I will not go back to a team that thinks I'm a monster!” No chance to responded,  rolling back to her feet as the axe blade sailed past Diana’s head, then again at her side, tried to trip her up with a slash to the legs before switching to attacks of her own, which sent Yakir back out of reach and the shower of a shotgun blast raining against her, a portal thrown up to absorb every pellet that a have hit harmlessly away, but leaving her blind.

Diana gasped as he point of Yakir’s blade lodged firmly under her chin, the hands holding it there dangerously steady, but Yakir’s eyes betrayed them, all the emotion there to see for the briefest of moments, before they blinked and nothing could be seen there again.

“Yakir, just come back with me-”

“I'm not a murderer Diana!”

“Then just come back and explain! Mal and Nara will-”

“Mal won't care! She has every right to think I killed them, I basically did except I didn't pull the trigger!”

Emotion forced their voice to crack, as Soulsiphon fell to the ground and Yakir’s eyes dropped to the floor as well, all the fight drained out of them.

“I didn't do it… I just couldn't stop it…”

Diana reached a hand out, laying it gently on the Faunus’ shoulder, feeling the flinch run through them but Yakir didn’t move away, didn’t even acknowledge the gesture.

"There is darkness inside you Yakir - it's been cooped up for a long time - but we can talk this out."

Before Diana could hear Yakir’s reply - she could feel it. It was a sickening noise as Yakir’s fist connected with Diana’s jaw, sending the much taller girl plummeting to the floor, gasping as she put her hand over the blossoming red mark and wincing in pain at the sudden reaction. But even as Yakir stood there, staring in disbelief at their own hands, stepping backwards slightly. Before they could say sorry, it was interrupted, by having the long handle of Coscoroba smashed into their ribs.


	3. Failed reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can the team work out their problems? Or do they even want to?

As Yakir slowly opened their eyes,the world took just a few seconds more than it should usually have taken to come into focus as they groggily attempted to sit up. Nara was  hovering over them, blue eyes wide with concern at the wince the Faunus failed to suppress as pain shot down one side, focusing on one particular rib.  _ What the hell happened? _

Blue eyes widened on meeting light green ones and then gave a wide smile, one that soon turned sympathetic.   
As Yakir rose from their bed whilst slowly getting up, wincing in pain at every step towards the staircase sent stars of pain dancing up the Faunus’ side, the stairs proving especially painful but Nara knew better than to try and stop them, resigning to follow cautiously.

Diana was sitting in one of the worn leather arm chairs as Yakir looked round the living room: legs crossed  reading a book about Grimm she'd already read a thousand times.  _ She never puts that damn book down. _ Yakir thought to themself. As Diana looked up from her own little world she gave a weak smile and Yakir's heart dropped.    
  
Diana's jaw was painted black and blue with hints of purple: in a sickening way, it was almost pretty.   
_ I did that... _ Yakir thought to themself, before all the rest came flooding back as well, forcing them to sit down.  Even before they could attempt to form some sort of apology, Nara spoke up.    
"Now I think we all need to be mature adults about this" she said, sitting down by Yakir's feet, checking the bandages around their legs: apparently Yakir hadn't even noticed that Maleficent tripping them up with Cosorcobra’s blade had sliced open the back of their legs at the time.   
  
"Where's Maleficent?" Yakir's voice held a defeated tone: their snow leopard ears dropped as did their eyes, focusing only on the bruised knuckles of their left hand. Nara sighed and patted Yakir's leg in an effort to give some sort of comfort.

  
"She's out" replied Nara in a serious tone.   
"Where??"    
"She just went for a walk, she needed some time to herself" replied Nara. Her blonde spiky hair more messy than usual, her face looked tired and worn down. Bad lack of sleep.    
"I need to go find her, I need to explain myself that I didn't-" voice cracking with emotion, Yakir hung their head, letting their scruffy black bangs hide the tears welling up in their eyes. Even with a shaky breath, their voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"I didn't do it, I promise... and I didn't mean to hurt you Diana I just ... I thought ..."    
"You thought I was going to hurt you, I know you only lashed out in fear and it's okay, you're forgiven. You were scared, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me... not while in your right mind anyway." Replied Diana, tucking her golden hair behind her ear, unknowingly putting even more bruise on show. Yakir had to look away, feeling sick to the core at the sight.   
"I just need to tell her I'm sorry - at least"    
Nara sighed and put both of her slender arms on Yakir's shoulders.    
"Maleficent, or whatever her name is, she's gonna need some time. She's never been open with us and probably never will so just chill for a moment okay? Give her some space. I got her to stop trying to kill you anyway. Well- eventually. But she didn't touch you for the two days that you were out!"    
"I was out for two days?" Replied Yakir quietly, eyes slightly wide in shock.   
Diana chuckled to herself and closed her book slowly, not even bothering to mark her page.    
"Well she did almost beat the living hell outta you. You're lucky you didn't break anything. She bruised your ribs pretty bad when she knocked you out though." Diana mumbled, reaching out to pick up her warm cup of tea, sipping at it.    
Yakir reached up down to their side, feeling the tenderness even with the gentlest of touches, wondering how they had managed to get downstairs, and why Nara hadn't pinned them down to prevent it.   
  
A loud clank made all three jump, as it announced the front door opening, a sense of dread quickly descending over what was going to happen next.    
A faint rustling sound from a plastic bag and a smell of oriental food drifted  through the hallway into the living room as keys rattled into the bowl by the door. High heels clicked against the wooden floor, the only sound above three rapid heart beats. 

  
"Nara, I got the cookies you like and they ran out of jasmine tea at the shop Diana, sorry about that, but I did get some Chinese food" Maleficent went straight into the kitchen, ignoring everyone as she walked past the open door, not even noticing they were there. Her firey red hair swayed from side to side as she unloaded the greasy food onto the counter, her back to her silent audience through the doorway as she mumbled to herself. She mentioned something about green tea and having a bath later as she picked chopsticks out of the bag, twirling them around her fingers as she shoved a piece of prawn toast in her mouth.

Walking into the living room with a pile of steaming noodles on her plate, Mal paused as she noticed the team sat there, waiting with racing hearts and bated breath.

  
"Well you're all awfully quiet today."    
  
Maleficent slumped down onto the sofa she had impaled just a few days ago, sat across from Yakir, seemingly unaware of the awkward silence that still hung over the group   
"Did I mention I got Chinese food?" Maleficent talked with her mouth full of noodles. Everyone exchanged shocked glances, wondering why she wasn't trying to strangle Yakir or shove a pork bun down their throat.   
  
Nara broke the silence. "Thanks for the cookies by the way" she said meekly as Maleficent stuffed her face.    
"MfNo Pfproblem" replied Maleficent, unfazed that the person she had tried to kill was sitting opposite her. She simply sat and ate like she hadn't tasted food in weeks.   
  
Yakir opened their mouth to break the silence, make some sort of apology or try to explain themselves. "You should probably go eat something" said Maleficent looking right into Yakir's eyes, throwing everyone off; but Yakir didn't want to eat, they just wanted to sort this out, settle it down enough that they knew where they stood at least.   
  
"Mal I didn't-"   
"I don't care what you have to say right now - just go eat something" said Maleficent, using her team leader voice  whilst staring at Yakir.    
Nara sighed, standing and dusting her hands off on her grey waistcoat thoroughly as she walked into the kitchen, mumbling to herself about trying to be healthy, Diana stood also, following quickly behind Nara as Yakir had to turn their head away, unable to bring themself to look at the hideous black mark across Diana's face.

Nara was back a minute later, pressing a plate of egg fried rice and chicken in lemon sauce into Yakir's hands, the stern look Nara gave them, daring them to refuse to eat, kept Yakir silent except to mumble a soft “Thanks,” as Nara sat herself down next to them with her own plate of beef and bean sprouts in oyster sauce. It was ‘medicinal food’, or at least that was how Nara described it, the strong aromatic scent of different spices alone was enough to calm the entire team's nerves with the return of familiarity.

  
Diana spoke up as she sat down with her own plate "Did you meet that weird guy by the park again Mal?"it was asked politely and only out of interest.    
"Yeah, wanted some of the food but I told him to piss off. He knows I'd kick his ass if I wanted to " was Maleficent's response, her plate already nearly empty. She was oddly relaxed - which was rare for her on a normal day, let alone with all the drama and tension circulating around the team.    
  


Yakir was still picking at the half full plate resting on their lap as Nara took the rest of the team's plates and chopsticks out to the kitchen; she would have offered to put their plate in the fridge for later if she didn't know better than to try and take food from the Faunus. Maleficent's eyes were glassy, her expression emotionless but an aura of intimidation radiated from her. Blinking, her eyes focused, and Yakir glanced up long enough for Mal’s eyes to cut into their soul.

  
"I don't hate you" said Maleficent quietly, but there was a note in her voice that her tough act could come crumbing down at any moment. Yakir's ears dropped limply and their fluffy tail curled instinctively around their legs as they tried to speak up.    
"I understand if you do though… I more than deserve it..."   
"I'm a firm believer in second chances... and I'm willing to forgive you. I know you didn't do anything directly… but in exchange... I want to kill the monsters who did it."

  
Yakir's green eyes fixed  onto Maleficent, several different emotions flickering across them before settling onto a mix of shock and fear.   
"What?"    
"I want to kill the ones who did it - and I can only do that with your help. Then I will forgive you"   
Yakir and the others stared at her in disbelief but from her tone, they knew she was deadly serious.   
"Mal, that's too dangerous, we're Grimm specialists not-" said Diana before being cut off.    
"I need to kill them." Maleficent said in a solemn tone.    
  


Yakir pushed their plate onto the seat beside them as they stood, putting their back to Malificent as they took a few carefully steps away, heading back upstairs.

"I'd rather stay unforgiven.”


	4. Causing a Ruckus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team attempts to work together to gain a little intel

Maleficent stared at where Yakir had just been sitting, her eyes wide in disbelief. This whole thing was embarrassing. Nara however, was not in the mood for long drawn out silences anymore, breaking the tension.

“What the actual fuck?!” she said, standing up and looking down at the redheaded girl in disbelief. Her arm movements were all over the place and so was her speech. Maleficent however was completely calm and collected, except the shock didn't leave her face. 

“Calm down Nara - I'm sure Yakir is just … confused” Said Diana meekly, tucking her wavy, resplendent hair behind her ear, still sat with her legs crossed in her armchair, failing to understand the situation playing out in front of her.

“Calm down??  _ Calm down?? _ Yakir just blew the only chance they had to redeem themselves! How can I be calm about this?” Nara shot back. 

“Well, you’re not the team leader… you don't get to make that call.” Diana replied, crossing her arms over her chest and giving a small pout. However the defiance only angered Nara even more. 

“Well I’m sorry! But our team leader is currently having an existential crisis!” Nara's voice was full of bitter, angry venom. Maleficent said nothing, just staring into space, like she was lost in thought. 

“You gonna do anything about that Mal?? Huh??” Said Nara clicking her long fingers in front of Maleficent's face. 

No reply. No reaction.

“Oh for fuck’s sake” Nara said, storming out of the room, her grey tail coat swished behind her as she walked in annoyance, leaving Diana in the company of their silent leader. 

With her blood boiling, Nara stomped upstairs, she’s had almost no sleep since this whole ordeal had started and was stretched well past her limits. She yanked open Yakir’s bedroom door, the name sign of black and purple clattering with the force. They were sitting on the bed, legs hanging over the edge and eyes trained on the bare wooden floorboards between their feet. Before even giving the Faunas a chance to look up, Nara grabbed Yakir's black quilted scarf with both hands and dragged the slightly smaller Faunus’ to a stand, a storm raging in her eyes, looking for any chance to start a fight.

“Why are you so  _ stupid?!” _ Nara yelled directly into Yakir’s face, however they didn't even flinch, only closing their pale green eyes and turning their head away.

“You wouldn't understand” came the whispered reply. Nara’s patience snapped.

“Why did you blow that chance away!? You still on the White-Fang’s side then huh?” 

“It's not like that!” Yakir snarled back, planting two hands on the girl's chest and forcing her away, just enough that the ex-acrobat’s grip on their scarf was broken and they could fall back onto the bed again.

“Well what is it then? You’re unwilling to help your friend because of your stupid pride? Your reputation?? Or is this really about family or some lost love??” Snapped back at them, Nara's eyes set with burning anger.

“I told you, you wouldn’t understand!”

“You’re right - I wouldn’t understand. Because I’m not crazy like you! What, you think I'm stupid or something?! Or do you just need to buy a little time for all your White-Fang buddies to get ready?”

“Nara… I am not White-Fang! I haven't been part of that for nine years! But I am not helping you all become killers!”

Before Nara could spit back a response, the Faunus was storming past her out of their bedroom, ignoring Nara completely as they strolled down the stairs with a bitter face, Nara ran out of Yakir’s room and jumped over the wooden stair banister and followed behind them wanting to give them a piece of her mind. Before that though, Yakir entered the living room and walked over to Mal, clapping their hands in her face to force the team leader to look up at them.

Maleficent’s eyes widened and then looked up at the faunus with confusion and then sudden anger but before she could say anything, Yakir cut her off. 

“There's a bar called ‘The White Rabbit’ In the Eastern part of Heaven , you're looking for a guy named Fennec Red.”

Before anyone could react to the information, Yakir was gone and slammed the front door in the hallway, leaving the three alone together in the living room: Nara full of anger, Diana full of confusion and Maleficent couldn't make herself feel anything much at all.

There was a long silence before Diana interrupted with a late reaction. 

“But … that's a faunus only bar ... “ she said, her face and tone filled with confusion.

“Great - Yakir isn't gonna help us and the only help we can get is from some random guy in a Faunus bar! Is he gonna be Ex white Fang too?” Nara snapped with her arms crossed and her feet tapping on the floor boards. 

“Not all Faunus are white fang Nara” said Maleficent meekly. She arose from her arched state and looked at her teammates. “Well - we gotta go find this Mr Red then- That is, if you guys want to come” Maleficent’s tone betraying just how disheartened she was feeling.

Nara and Diana both looked at each other and gave their leader a sympathetic smile, before wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Mal - don't be an idiot” said Nara with a cheeky smile.

“Yeah, there’s no way we’d let you have all the fun” replied Diana grinning and towering over both girls.

* * *

 

The bar’s front looked standard enough, with no external clues that it was Faunus only, but it had a old and worn down feeling to it: something more than just a bar. The cold, howling wind created an eerie feeling between the Huntresses as it cut through them; each wishing they’d wrapped up a little warmer.

“So this is the White Rabbit then” said Maleficent, talking over the faint sound of laughter and talking inside.

Diana studied the way it looked like she’d never seen a bar before. Nara furrowed her eyebrows at her teammate closely looking at the architecture of the bar. 

“Hey Diana - what are you doing?” Said Nara with her arms crossed  and teeth chattering.

Diana’s eyes shot up and her long golden hair blew in the wind as she looked at Nara with a nervous smile. 

“I just got a sense of something - not sure what it is though” Diana said, rubbing a hand anxiously across the back of her head. 

“This place seems off - i'm not sure what it is- but it's off” said Maleficent looking through the small steamed windows - trying to get an idea of what it was like inside. She was attempting to hide the fact she was freezing cold. But her shivering stance and her teeth loudly clanking gave it away.

“Maybe we just feel weird because we’re not faunus - maybe if we dressed up like them it would be fine!” Diana suggested cheerily. Maleficent and Nara stared at Diana with a deadpan expression. You could almost see tumble wheels rolling at her ridiculous comment.

“You can’t be serious” Replied Nara, her shoulders hunched up not just against the cold now  and her jaw slightly dropped. However Diana was being completely serious. 

She pulled out of her tanned leather satchel a head band with some folded dog ears and clip on black cat tail.

Maleficent and Nara both faced palmed at Diana’s outrageous plan. 

“Well I don’t see you two having any better ideas!” Huffed Diana - you could see her warm breath escape her mouth and dance of into the wind. But before Nara and Maleficent could think of another plan to get inside a small figure appeared from the distance and walked towards the bar. The Huntresses acted stiff - like everything was fine  and failing to act normal. However as the figure came closer and closer they started to see who it really was. 

It was Yakir. 

As they became more visible in the dim light their tail swooshed from side to side and their black hair blew in the wind and so did their ears. Their black knee high boots treading carefully on the rough ground. Nara gave a sigh and stared at Yakir before giving a weak smile. 

“Finally decide to show up?” Said Nara sarcastically. 

Yakir gave a faint chuckle, then a smile and looked at Maleficent who to their surprise seemed happy they were there. 

“Well I wanted to know where you guys where, plus I knew you would need to some help to get in” Yakir then turned to Diana as her face was disheartened with the denial of her ‘ingenious plan’. Yakir gave a light smile, trying to reach for her shoulder to pat but was unable to reach. Her arm would do. 

“Your plan was pretty out there - but you could get away with it” said Yakir, and Diana’s face lit up with pride as Nara’s dropped with bitterness.. 

“Does this mean you’re helping us then?” Maleficent asked with a somber look about her. 

Yakir looked up at their team leader and took a deep breath.

“I’d rather not get involved - and I really don't want you to do this - however I know how much this means to you … So I’ll help you get the information you need just not from me.” Yakir looked down at their boots and their head hung low but almost jumped out of their skin as Maleficent ruffled their hair.

“That sounds like a deal to me” Maleficent gave a faint smile as Yakir looked through their shaggy fringe, seeing the badly concealed sense of disappointment on her face. 

“So do we ditch the disguises or nah?” Nara interrupted the somewhat ‘moving’ moment, feeling that Yakir wasn’t quite as deserving of the forgiveness Mal was showing them. The faunus saw her sulking expression, like a dog who didn’t get its bone; Yakir broke into a grin as an idea popped into their head. 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Nara’s shoulders tensed and a large pout was painted across her face. The flopped golden retriever like ears were placed on her head and blended well with her spiky blonde hair, Diana was almost screaming at how ‘cute’ Nara looked. 

“I look ridiculous” Stated Nara with a twisted face. Maleficent, Diana and Yakir all thought the ears suited the Acrobat. 

“Well I think you look lovely! They make you look so cute! The fur even goes with your hair colour!” Diana almost squeaked as she patted the shorter girl’s head like a dog, Nara responded with a convincingly dog like growl. 

Maleficent giggled at her teammates; acting like they used to and a faint smile formed on her face. But with a sigh, she spun on her heel to face towards the unusual building before them. 

“So; stick to the plan and it should be alright!” Said Maleficent in her cheery leader voice. “Nara makes a convincing Faunus and well - Yakir is one so it should all go smoothly” Maleficent said as she planted a hand on the back of each ‘Faunus’ and shoved them through the bar’s door. 

Inside the bar was hot; too hot. The sudden heat change made Nara feel sick, but glancing towards Yakir, saw them largely unaffected by it; they’d always loved being warm. The Bar had a rustic feel to it as all of the furniture made of polished wood, giving off a homey feel. However the loud bass music thumped through the venue like the bar was experiencing an earthquake. 

Yakir’s dislike for crowds was apparent instantly as they shifted towards the edge of the room, the space tightly packed with people making their ears flatten back, even though these were people that wouldn’t look at them and see an animal. For Nara however, this was nothing; she’d grown up in crowds like this all her life in the Circus, but even there she hadn’t seen so many Faunus, and so many different kinds, all in one place. It was a little intimidating.

“I know where Fennec might be - he's a fox Faunus with ginger hair and stubble - if you see him alert me and I’ll sort it out. Oh and watch out for any Rabbit Faunus while you’re here.” Yelled Yakir through the loud music to Nara as they walked off to the back of the bar. 

“Great- thanks for leaving me here, you’re  _ such _ a good friend Yakir,  _ I don’t know what I'd do without you! _ ” Said Nara sarcastically to herself, trying to avoid eye contact with the faunus all around her. 

Yakir made their way through the crowd quickly, trying to avoid eye contact. This bar was known for its dislike of the white fang and with Fennec around it was not a good idea to let anyone else know who about their history. Before Yakir reached the back of the bar a Tiger Faunus stepped in front of them. He was tall, broad shouldered and had faint black stripes near his eyes and across his forehead, with a swishing tail looking down at the small snow leopard. 

“Beat it kid - Penelope is seeing business people, and unless you’re one of them I would recommend leaving” He sneered down at them, Yakir glanced round, not spotting the Fox, before glaring up at him. 

“No no, I'm not looking for her, I’m looking for Fennec, Fennec Red - I know he used to come here a lot.” Yakir said, looking up at the tall Faunus, feeling incredibly small in comparison. It was a safe bet that the Tiger would rat on Fennec, the Fox might have been a ladies man, but he had a bad habit of rubbing everyone else up the wrong way. The Faunus raised one eyebrow suspiciously as he looked down at Yakir, crossing his arms over his chest before speaking.

“He hasn’t come in here for a while - but you’re just in luck, he’s upstairs in the casino. He’s a disgrace to faunus; working with anyone who can give him money, even the white fang- If you’re here to kill him I would gladly buy you a drink” Said the tiger faunus with a smirk. 

Yakir smiled nervously and tried to act as normal as they could. 

“Well, I’m not here to kill him per say- just to get some intel, might have to rough him up a bit… he's an information broker, but the info I’m gonna get out of him will get White-Fang dead “ Yakir laughed nervously as the Tiger gave an indistinctive half smile. 

“Well thanks - I really appreciate it!” Yakir said with a nervous grin and the Tiger faunus bowed his head down and whispered into their ear.

“Will you at least punch him for me?” Said the Tiger faunus, Yakir chuckled and nodded to the tall faunus, who grinned back at them before turning away. 

As Yakir turned to go up the stairs they held on to the polished wooden banister and tried to see if they could find Nara, make sure she wasn’t causing a ruckus. Yakir spotted Nara sipping a cider at the bar not looking best pleased but at least she wasn’t picking a fight and no one had called her out as a human yet. 

The stairs creaked under even Yakir’s soft footsteps as three large circular tables came into view, each surrounded by several faunus playing poker and black jack. Scanning across the groups in search of the pesky fox faunus, suddenly a loud laugh erupted from one of the tables and Yakir knew exactly who it was. 

It was Fennec.

Fennec had shaggy ginger hair that was the colour of a warm sunset with brown eyes that were warm like hot chocolate but but could quickly turn into a rocky storm. His appearance and expression was one of who is extremely devious and manipulative, someone not to be trusted. He could be described as a handsome man with a beautiful face, and was so by more than a few women in the many towns and cities he visited in his travels. He had a fluffy ginger fox tail with a white tip that often swayed when he walked making him look even more devious. His outfit consisted of a tan coat with cream fluffy fur lining the edges that goes down to his hips, along with a plain black and white striped V-necked shirt and white skinny jeans with knee high brown boots. Even without knowing his reputation, one glance at him and you could see he was a ladies man. 

Yakir squeezed between the other faunus and made themselves in plain sight of Fennec. His laughter began to die off as he looked between to the snake faunus and a cat faunus girls on each arm before he saw the stare of Yakir and gave a cheeky grin as he stood from the booth he was slumping in. 

“Yakir Briar! How very nice to meet you once again! How long has it been?? 8?? 9 years?? Oh my have you grown?! Not changed a bit might I add and still the same height too” His cocky tone of voice and matching grin grated against the Snow Leopard in every possible way.

“I'm not here to catch up - I'm here to get some intel” Said Yakir with a deadpan face walking towards the casino table. 

“Briar?? Isn't that one of the White Fang’s generals last name??” Said the Snake faunus girl with a sneer on her face. Fennec gave a twisted smile as Yakir’s face grew worried but they ignored the sneers from the other faunus. 

“Ohhh Briar is a common name among cat faunus, Anguis! Everyone knows that!” Said Fennec with a knowing glance into Yakir’s eyes. 

“Really?? It doesn't sound common to me” replied the cat faunus girl looking at Yakir up and down. 

Yakir stared at Fennec, a hard light in their eyes.

“I'm here to ask some information about the white fang” Said Yakir, lump in their throat. Fennec raised his eyebrow as a loud crash erupted through the bar from downstairs. 

Yakir ran to the balcony over looking the ground floor to confirm their predicted thoughts, groaning as they saw their prediction was in fact correct. It was Nara, and she had started a fight with some wolf faunus. Fennec followed up behind Yakir and started laughing with his drink in his hand. 

“What's a human doing in a Faunus bar like this??” He stated before sipping his drink, Yakir’s eyes widened and looked at the cocky man. 

“How do you know that she's a human?” Yakir asked hesitantly with a tiny sweat droplet trickling down their face. 

Fennec just laughed at Yakir’s confusion and calmly responded whilst descending the creaky wooden stairs. 

“I know everything Yakir - don’t you remember?” 

Yakir jumped down from the balcony and landed on all fours, running into the commotion Nara had caused. All they could hear was Nara shouting insults to the wolf faunus and Yakir internally face-palmed.

_ Nice one Nara, now I have to find somewhere else to drink. _ Yakir thought to themselves, elbowing their way through the crowd chanting “FIGHT!FIGHT!FIGHT!” Seeing Nara in a fighting stance and pulling one of her many blades out of apparently thin air, Yakir face palmed internally again. 

* * *

 

Diana and Maleficent were sitting outside in the freezing cold, huddled up to one another with their teeth chattering. One Faunus heading into the bar mistook them for homeless people, offering them some money. The thought was nice but Maleficent couldn’t help but take offence that they were mistaken for homeless people; her outfit was tailor made for her especially and probably cost more than the Faunus made in a month. She wouldn’t admit it, but Maleficent was a bit more fashion conscious than the rest of her team and she didn't want to be mocked for it.

“People don’t have taste these days” said Maleficent hudderling her legs together and hunching over with her skirt blowing violently in the wind; the weather could have been a little kinder for them. 

“Well you do look a bit like a barmaid Mal - or even a french maid!” giggled Diana. 

Maleficent’s eyes narrowed and pouted at her friends comment. 

“It's classy and vintage - besides black and white is suitable for all uses of wear.” Maleficent huffed. 

Diana giggled at her Leader’s embarrassment but her laugh was interrupted by a loud smash. 

“I hope that was just a very large glass breaking” 

Nara was crouching around and deflecting hits from the wolf faunus and idly danced around like this fight was effortless. Well it was, but that just seemed to make the wolf faunus even more angry. 

“What's your fucking problem lady?? We just wanted to buy you a drink!” Yelled the Wolf Faunus, his salt and pepper hair was trimmed but still looked shaggy and his grey wolf ears were perked and alert. 

“I told you I wasn't interested like five times! Like for god's sake, can’t a girl just have a drink on her own for once?!” Nara yelled back at the man with her hands in her pockets, grasping a throwing knife in case things got ugly. The wolf faunus was growling at Nara’s sass, clearly having had enough of it by this point. The wolf pulled a silver dagger from his pouch and Nara realised this wasn’t going to be a fist fight. 

Yakir broke through the circle surrounding them just in time, stepping between Nara with mouth already open to make some attempt to rationally talk Nara down. But before they had a chance to make a sound, Nara shoved them out of the way.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nara snapped, glaring down at the Faunus. Sure, Yakir was her teammate, she cared about them as a friend, as family. But right now, she wasn't prepared to listen to a word they said, regardless of the topic.

The wolf faunus took advantage of the moments of stillness, lunging forward towards Nara but before he could reach her, the smile across her face became menacing and he felt a sudden weight to his dagger, pulled to the floor by it. Yakir jumped up from the floor as did the wolf faunus. But Nara pushed Yakir out of the way and sent them to the floor again.

_ Thanks Nara _ Thought Yakir bitterly, but the move had put them in the perfect position to trip the broad wolf faunus over, and with a quick swipe of their leg the wolf faunus came crashing down with a growl at the snow leopard, lunging for Yakir instead of Nara. 

Yakir was quick to their feet again and so was the wolf, aiming a powerful punch towards Yakir’s face which the Snow Leopard ducked underneath. The menacing grin on Nara's face was more than a little disturbing, as the wolf was dragged to the floor by an unseen force and a loud thump.

Yakir stood there baffled at Nara's quick and decisive end to the fight, with none of the usual cat and mouse games she played with an opponent. There was a loud roar from the crowd as the the fight had ended with what Nara would call a KO. Nara’s smile became wide and receptive, as she turned to the cheering crowd to soak up a little appreciation,  fond memories of her circus days flooding back. But as she sucked up to all the praise, Nara failed to notice the crowd fall suddenly silent.

Once the bar was silent Nara finally noticed the awkward silence surrounding that was broken by the sound of faint high heels on hard floorboards. Looking up, she saw that Yakir’s expression registered fear, not for themselves, but for Nara.

There before them stood a Lustful and Beautiful Rabbit Faunus. She had long velvety black rabbit ears and luscious blonde hair. The perfect playboy bunny from looks to demeanour; a black velvet playsuit with a sweetheart neckline and the typical white collar with black bow tie, although with the addition of two black leather porta pockets on her left thigh: one with a gun, the other with spare ammo. A thin chain also snaked around her hips holding up two whips at her right side.

She looked _ insanely  _ erotic.

“What is the meaning of this” Her voice carried the unmistakable note of an authority no one dared to challenge. Yakir tried to explain before Nara butted in and made everything worse but the Wolf Faunus shoved them out of the way, yelling directly into Nara’s face. 

“This Bitch here- was making such a fuss about us! All I wanted was to chat, maybe buy her a drink- but what do I get?? A fucking slap in the face!” 

The rabbit faunus looked disinterested, focusing on her perfect manicure. 

“Did she say she wasn't interested?” The rabbit lady spoke with a raspy tone, barely even glancing up at the wolf as she spoke.

“I did! Several times in fact!” Interrupted Nara, her cocky smirk greatly undermining the effect of her earnest sounding voice.

“I didn't ask you - human” She said directly, the whole bar gasped and there was the sound of a single person clapping from the crowd: Fennec, with his cocky smile still imprinted onto his face. 

“Thank you Miss Penelope Rex! Atleast someone in here has a decent nose!” Fennec said glaring at the canine faunus’ in particular. Yakir’s eyes narrowed at the sight of Fennec but their attention was more directed at the owner of this place finally showing her face, they’d always imagined the mysterious ‘Penelope Rex’ as a cranky old business lady- but in fact she was only cranky. 

“Finally I can take these godforsaken ears off” mumbled Nara, quickly throwing the golden retriever ears to the ground - the aura of cuteness was gone and now Nara looked annoyed, like she could lash out at any minute. Penelope swished her bleach blonde hair perfectly and you could almost hear everyone swooning after her. 

“Oh please Fennec I could smell her from a mile away” Penelope glanced at Yakir and stepped forward towering over the Acrobat and the snow leopard Faunus. 

“Did you bring her here?” Asked Penelope with a gesture to Nara, looking like she had just eaten something that disagreed with her. Nara mentally wishing for this Penelope lady to come just a step closer so she could punch her in the face. There was a slight pause, as the rabbit faunus raised an eyebrow looking down at the snow leopard faunus, who was only glaring with their tail swishing in muted anger.

“You’ll speak when you’re spoken to, Yakir Briar” the crowd gasped again and the sound of weapons being drawn and snarls over took the silence and the lump in Yakir’s throat grew a little. But before Anyone could attack the vulnerable looking snow leopard, the wooden bar door smashed open suddenly with a howl of powerful wind breaking into the warm air sending everyone a step back with a shiver of cold with the sudden temperature drop and every pair of eyes trained on the open doorway. 

There before them stood a tall young lady with a tight black underbust corset over a white poofy blouse with a black bowed ribbon to tie it together. Her fiery red hair blew in from the outside snowstorm and made her way forward to where Yakir and Nara were.

It was Maleficent. On her heel followed Diana, long golden wavy hair bouncing with every step and her height put her towering above nearly everyone else in the bar. Her dark red and black armour gave an aura of power and strength, and her cheerful expression only added to how intimidating she looked.

Penelope brushed past Yakir and Nara, who stepped back slightly in fear as did everyone else as she stalked past to meet the pair of unexpected guests, her blonde hair swinging from side to side of her hourglass figure.

“I'm sorry we’re not accepting anymore customers right now.” Penelope’s voice had taken on a bitter edge with her head held high, she was the same height as Maleficent but her elegant long black rabbit ears made her look like she was the same height as Diana. Diana spoke with a smile and looked down at the rabbit lady. 

“Oh no need to worry - we’re actually here to pick some people up, we’re not here to cause you any trouble.” 

Penelope glared at Diana, right into her deep red eyes and the tension kept growing. 

“Well, in case you didn't know, this is a Faunus only bar. That means  _ no  _ humans.” Penelope said, a hint of anger in her voice. But she was unnervingly collected even when her property had just been broken into by a race of people she despised. 

“So I'm sorry, I’m going to have to turn you away” said Penelope, grasping a long black whip at her side and snapping it in front of the two human girls. It was eerily quiet in the normally booming bar with the tension still mounting. 

Diana jerked back at the sudden weapon and saw Yakir violently shaking their head in the distance. Even though she’d been told this was a bad idea, she didn’t stop. 

“So there's no room left at the Inn??” Replied Diana slowly unsheathing  Motylposa in its Katana form. 

Diana’s innocent face and voice compared with Penelope’s lustfulness and semi-veiled aggression was almost comical if this wasn't a real fight.

“What about the stable??” Diana’s innocent cheek tipped Penelope over the edge.

With a sudden crack of a whip, the Katana was snacthed out of Diana’s grasp with Penelope’s long leather whip and Motylposa went clattering to the ground behind Penelope. Diana’s cheeriness dropped as she looked disapprovingly down at Motylposa, as if blaming the weapon rather than the Faunus that had struck it down.

“I'm sorry but this isn't a Hotel” Replied Penelope, dark blue eyes narrowing harshly. 

Diana’s eyes deepened from its normal scarlet red but before she could react to the rabbit faunus's actions, Penelope was sprinting towards Diana releasing another whip by her side - this one made of chains rather than leather; a lot more painful if she managed to land a hit. Dodging underneath and sprinted steps to scope Motlyposa back into her grasp. The chained whip came crashing down onto Diana, deflected away by her Katana, and quickly rolled over so the chain smashed into the floorboards. 

Penelope was not happy having to pay for even more damages because of unwelcome guests. 

Diana rose to her feet and Penelope quickly sent her leather whip to floor, attempting to break Diana’s ankles, however Diana jumped into the air and turned the dodge into an attempt to slice at the rabbit faunus. Penelope deflected the hit with the base of the whip, a matte black pistol, which made an unpleasant metal on metal grating. Penelope shot a bullet that went into the ceiling of her bar sending down a sprinkling of sawdust, however the ricochet struck Diana in the leg at full force and sent her to the floor.

Penelope took advantage of this and cracked her whip again, the long leathered whip came soaring towards Diana, but before it could land against the fallen girl, Maleficent was in the way, the blow catching across her chest. The residual crack of the whip was the only noise against the silence of the bar, everyone stunned to see how cleanly such a blow could cut skin, as blood started to seep into the torn white of Maleficent's poofy blouse.

Maleficent’s eyes widened in pain at the sudden hit and she started coughing violently, hand clamping over the cut.

Yakir stood frozen in place, looking at the defeat of their teammate. Diana was on the floor, blood seeping out of the ricochet wound in her calf. Maleficent was slowly sinking to the ground more in shock than pain but more than just a few drops of red had blossomed against the white of her blouse. Nara was shoving people out of the way, crouching down to look at Diana first. Hearing panicked muttering out of Nara’s lips.

_ ‘Why does this always happen?’ _ Yakir thought to themselves. 

Penelope turned away from the injured humans and the other Faunus cheered at her victory; her only recognition a menacing half-smile. But before she could really enjoy her success, the sound of clanking metal and gears working echoed in the bar. The violent coughing disappeared.

Penelope gave a model like turn and saw the redhead from earlier stand with a slight hunch, two of the clasps of her black corset had come undone and the metal boning was sticking out and digging into her stomach. She had a curved staff over her shoulder with a swan head at the top of it. 

“Oh you humans never learn do you? - it was admiral of you taking that shot for your teammate but please don’t ruin your pride anymore than it has been.” Stated Penelope; uninterested in fighting the red head. But as she looked away she heard running footsteps from behind her and a prolonged painful grunt becoming louder and louder. Penelope jumped into the air and below her she saw the red head and saw her large, dark eyes, glaring at the rabbit Faunus like she was in a killing frenzy. Following behind her was a small trail of blood. ‘ _ Great, more mess.’  _ Penelope thought to herself, as she landed elegantly behind Maleficent, one hand planted on the ground as she crouched low to the ground.

Maleficent’s eyes narrowed at the rabbit Faunus and clicked a button on the staff curved white staff and a wing of blades came out one by one all shimmering in the dim light and a long light blue blade came into view.

Everyone was in awe of the intricate, ornate weapon, but Penelope pretended to be disinterested; she personally thought it was a bit over the top. But before she could crack her whip running footsteps behind her interrupted the fight.

To everyone's surprise, it was Fennec. Confusion rippled through the crowds, at why someone who always liked a good fight, or at least to watch one, was putting an end to it. Penelope turned round with a glare, but her angry shout was cut off, seeing the glimmer in Fennec’s eye, like a child in a sweet shop.

“I can’t believe this” He whispered, just loud enough that the confusion in the room grew.

“Fennec if you do not move out of the way right now I will feel no guilt at shooting you too” Penelope warned, her ears alert with anger. 

Fennec clapped his hands with childish glee, before spinning round between facing Penelope and Maleficent, throwing his arms out. 

“Ladies, Gentlemen and Anything in between” Fennec shouted, there was a short and tense pause while he grinned menacingly at Maleficent, making sure he had absolutely everyone’s attention. “The Swan Family lives on!” 


	5. The Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team attempts to fix things and find out what they need to know.

Fennec huffed as his palms rubbed against each other, the rough rope cutting into his wrists painfully whenever he tried to twist and find a way to escape. His hands were tied behind his back against a chair and so were his feet. With wrists steadily getting more red and sore with rope burn, he didn't stop trying to find a way to get free.

_ ‘Jesus christ’  _ Fennec thought to himself. He knew Penelope had a temper at times but she's never punched him so hard she’d managed to knock him out. 

Fennec looked up and saw the tall rabbit faunus standing over him with an unimpressed look, her blonde curly hair and her skimpy black play suit making it a challenge for him to stay focused and not let his mind get distracted with fantasies. Behind her was the redheaded girl with her arms crossed trying to give an intimidating aura, Fennec looked at her up and down, from her black thigh high socks, to her white frilly blouse that was ever so slightly too tight for her large chest. But what stood out the most was a large red stain on the right side of her collar bone, the blood stain had now completely dried and was beginning to turn crispy and brown in contrast with her pristine white blouse, it made her look more intimidating. But he sensed she was hiding fear, and a lot of it. 

‘Oh yeah - she's  _ that _ girl’ Fennec noted in his head. He thought a lot in his head - if he spoke all of what he thought he would get punched a lot more. 

“I bet you lovely ladies could explain why I am tied up - _ couldn't you? _ ” Stated Fennec with a cocky smile with a singular strand of his orange wispy hair falling between his arched eyebrows. 

Penelope’s large, dark, blue eyes narrowed at the Fox’s statement and walked over to him sultrily. Her left leg was raised to the wooden chair Fennec was sitting on, her foot just inches away from his crotch. She bent down over him and whispered into his ear, with her warm breath tickling Fennec’s ear. 

“What you said back there - was that true? Or where you just attention seeking again?” Penelope said with pursed lips and fluttered eyelashes. 

A shiver went up Fennec’s spine. He wasn't afraid to admit that Penelope was gorgeous. But he didn't mess with business partners - he had to have some boundaries. Although with Penelope’s Semblance it did make it exceedingly hard to stay in control. She was known for   moving covertly around the country to lure weak-willed people into the clutches of their own lust, to be used and disposed of when no longer needed. Her semblance was like of a Succubus’s. She appeared to anyone she wanted of being the embodiment of whatever was sexually pleasing to them. However this power was useless on people with little or no sexual drive. 

“It's true - I promise, well I think so anyway, I lived in Vacuo for a bit, and whilst I was there - there was an attack. And It was the Swan family. They were like Royals there. T-the white fang killed them all.” Stuttered Fennec glancing at who he thought was a dead person. The redhead looked solemn and angry whilst staring at Fennec. He was being questioned by a seductive bunny lady and was given the death stare from someone he thought was dead. 

He was not having a good day. 

“Well if they killed them all, they didn't do a very good job” Penelope sneered at Fennec and kicked back the wooden chair, sending Fennec crashing to the floor with his hands still tied behind his back. 

“Pen! Please! Why would I lie to you???” Fennec pleaded. 

Penelope’s eyebrows furrowed and stared at the begging fox. 

“You lie to me all the time” replied Penelope bluntly with a raspy voice. Fennec’s eyes widened with panic as he tried to find what to say. 

“Well … why would I lie about this huh?? That weapon is an antique! I mean where have you ever seen a weapon like that before??” Replied Fennec with a lump in his throat looking up at the voluptuous faunus girl and the redhead who he was now going to start calling Ghostie. 

“An antique you say?” Penelope replied raising an eyebrow and glanced at the Redheaded girl who was closing in on herself, staying silent. 

Nara and Diana were by the front of the bar clearing up the mess they had made a few hours before. Nara was sweeping and scrubbing and Diana was trying to fix the floor boards and the hole in the roof. 

“Why do  _ we _ have to do this” huffed Nara leaning on a sliding broomstick, her baby blue blouse was folded up to her elbow and she had placed her grey waist coat on one of the bar chairs; not wanting to get it dirty. However, Nara wasn't even trying to clean up. She had to do enough of that at home and was not going to do it for someone who she wanted to punch the shit out of. 

“Because we made it Nara - I haven't got a problem with it, plus Miss Rex’s weapon is super cool~ I loved our fight, even though i've got another bruise to add to my collection” Replied Diana with a hum in her voice. Although Diana was pretty handy at mending things, she had a knack for hurting herself in the process. She had cuts and plasters all over her lean fingers but carried on optimistically nonetheless. Nara glanced at her injuries, her face became deadpan and gave a comical frown. 

_ “Oh by the way watch out for Rabbit Faunus Nara, Don’t worry Nara I’ll sort everything out, Oh Nara you’re useless for getting into so many fights I don’t know why I even bother! Because I’m perfect and Maleficent will forgive me for whatever I do - Even if i kill her entire family!! Hahaha!!”  _ Nara said trying to impersonate Yakir whilst lazily sweeping the floor. What Nara didn't know was Yakir was standing right behind her. 

Diana stared at Nara mocking their teammate to herself and tried to shake her head to give a hint to Nara. Unfortunately Nara wasn't one for subtlety. 

“What Diana? Aren't you sick and tired of Mal just forgiving Yakir for whatever they do?? She's our team leader she’s supposed to keep things in line! And Yakir runs off, comes back and Mal just forgets about it??” Nara said bitterly, unaware of her teammate standing behind her. 

“I’m not sure why Mal forgives me either Nara” Yakir said with a slight frown and hooded eyes. They had damp hair from being out in the snow for some reason. Nara looked over her shoulder and sneered at Yakir as they looked exhausted. Panting as droplets came crashing down to the wooden floor from the heat, their stamina didn't last forever, despite them being almost predator like.

Nara spun around quickly and stared at Yakir. She looked embarrassed, but not because she was caught - but because that wasn't her best impression of Yakir. 

“Well at least we’re on the same page” replied Nara, now suddenly enthusiastic about sweeping. 

Yakir looked up at their teammate not taking notice of their presence. They glanced at Diana who gave a weak smile and Yakir smiled back looking between their black shaggy hair that hung over their face before leaving the two girls to clean up the mess they’d made and then headed to the staircase sombrely.

There was a loud slap, as Penelope’s hand connected with Fennec’s cheek, before she turned away, her hair wisping across the room and hitting Fennec’s nostrils.  _ She smells like honeysuckle and jasmine  _ Fennec thought to himself. 

“Do whatever you want with him, don’t let him back in my sight. Filthy bastard, selling intel to the White-Fang.” 

The Rabbit’s bitter tone stung at Fennec a little, as his business partner of many years walked away with her hips swaying without a second glance at him. It was entirely his own fault, he knew that much, but he hadn’t expected her to cast him away quite so quickly; it seemed her hatred for the White-Fang was enough to trump her dislike of humans and his usefulness. She stalked away without a moment's hesitation, going to participate in whatever work she had today, nothing pleasant, one way or another.

The mysterious Swan girl stepped forward, scarlet red hair bobbing slightly as Yakir stepped up from the stairs as they passed Penelope on the way. Also getting a whiff of her scented hair. Yakir's black shaggy hair hung over their green eyes as they stared at Fennec behind Maleficent's shoulder. 

“Whatever you want to know Mal, he’s the guy to ask.”

Maleficent seemed more than a little nervous, putting on her best stern, serious face. Fennec couldn't help but see just how forced it was, but by the way Yakir was blatantly ignoring it, Fennec choose to do the same.

“The… the people who did this to my family… who, were?”

“The people that were responsible were part of General Briar’s force.” Stated Fennec bluntly 

Maleficent’s eyes widened in fear but a part of her was expecting that. Just hearing it be confirmed made it hard to concentrate. Yakir’s stance was tense, swallowing their nerves down deep as they could go, praying that Mal wouldn’t try to behead them; again.

“Who was in this … General’s force” replied Maleficent almost robotically, 

Fennec smirked and gave a unwanted glance at Yakir and then looked back at Maleficent's stern face. He tugged his hands together as he was getting rope burn from trying to escape.  _ Dammit Pen _

“Several people” Fennec stated with a raised eyebrow, glancing at Yakir menacingly, knowing that his answer wasn't going to satisfy Ghostie and her little cat friend. 

“Can you be more specific?” replied Maleficent, grinding her teeth. 

“How about you tell me how you escaped and why you’re still alive today - and then I'll tell ya, how about that Ghostie?” Fennec asked, his fluffy fox tail swishing behind the chair he was bound to.  

Yakir stormed over to Fennec with ears pushed back and eyes holding storms, their arm pulled back to add another punch to Fennec’s face, stopped only by Maleficent's cold hand being placed on the Faunus’ forearm.

“It's okay Yakir, I can comply with that.” replied Maleficent with her eyes cold and lifeless. Yakir lowered their arm and stared at Fennec, his cocky smile grated against their entire being.

Fennec bowed his head with a cheeky grin - unable to shake her hand “Pleasure doing business with you Miss Swan

Penelope strutted down the wooden stairs gliding her hand on the varnished banister. She glanced up at Diana who was sitting on a wooden beam, her legs dangling off it as she tried to fix the hole in the ceiling that Penelope caused. 

“Everything okay up there?” asked Penelope with an uninterested tone - she was mainly worried if she was going to fall, she did not want to have to deal with compensation. 

“Oh! Miss Rex! Well it's all going smoothly - I’ve fixed many things back home in my time so it's no biggy” grinned Diana whilst holding a large hammer. Her sinister looking red eyes looked so misplaced on the cheery girl. You could hear Nara’s grunts at Diana’s cheerfulness in the corner of the bar and Diana blushed in embarrassment at her teammate mortifying her in front of  a ‘very scary bunny lady’. 

“I’m sorry about Nara - she's just… awkward” said Diana.

“No worries, I’m sorry I attacked you, your teammate’s family was kind to faunus and everyone looked up to them. I hate the white fang more than I have a dislike for humans. Besides, you’re not  _ that  _ bad.” replied Penelope with a slight grin on her face. Diana took the bunny’s comment as a compliment and gave a big grin.

“Where are you from then?” Penelope asked out of interest, Diana didn't seem like the Atlas type, or from Vacuo, Minstrel or Vale. She was just Diana.

“Oh me? Well I grew up outside of the protected cities, not really sure where it is, but it's got a lot of trees” replied Diana cheerily, acting like living outside of one of the protected cities was no big deal.

_ It was a big deal. _

Penelope was surprised at the girl's demeanor, considering that she grew up surrounded by grimm she was extremely laid back and joyful. Penelope also grew up out of the protected kingdoms but didn't want to reveal anything about herself unless she had to.

“Must of been tough, living with Grimm and all” replied Penelope walking behind the bar and reaching for a glass. Her bleach blonde hair bouncing off her as she strutted.

“Ehh, it wasn't that bad. My tribe, it sounds weird, but … we’re very connected to Grimm- I mean when they attacked we attacked back. But they often ignored us. Just letting us get on with our lives, and us with them really.” replied Diana giving a faint smile to the rabbit faunus. 

“They came in the night, and I escaped through the Mansions back door to the stable -” 

Fennec interrupted Maleficent “Ohhh a Mansion how lovely it must of been for you! Being rich and spoilt rotten must of been a tough life” He said sarcastically and gave a twisted smile and looked up Maleficent trying to irritate her. Yakir's eyes narrowed at the fox’s mocking at their leader. But that was just his nature. 

“This scythe - it wasn't supposed to be a weapon that was used really. It was my Father’s mother’s weapon. So really it was a family heirloom, but my body just grabbed the first thing I could defend myself with. As I escaped, I rode my horse into the glen, They set fire to the house and I never saw it again.” Said Maleficent solemnly. There was a slight, tense pause between the 3 of them. 

But the mood was ruined by Fennec’s sarcastic and gritty comment.

“Ooooohh a pretty pony!! Ohh was it called buttercup sprinkles??” Asked Fennec with a mocking facial expression. 

Maleficent's face turned sour as she stormed towards Fennec and grabbed his white and black striped v-neck shirt and lifted him with the chair up to her eye sight and glared at his soul. 

“Do you want my information or not you swine”asked Maleficent with a deep raspy tone. Calculating in her head how she would beat the shit out of him.

“Sorry to disappoint Ghostie, but I am a fox - not a pig” replied Fennec with a cheeky grin. 

Maleficent's eyes narrowed and dropped the fox and a loud thud hit the floor with the wooden bar chair wobbling with the sudden drop. 

“I told you what you wanted to know - now you tell me what you know.” 

“What about you Nara? Where are you from” asked Penelope with a slightly uninterested tone but was curious nonetheless. Nara sneered at how casually the Faunus said her name but answered her question anyway. 

“I was born in Atlas” replied Nara with a ‘cool’ tone about her.

“Uh - Atlas, you don't seem like the type to come from a conservative and militant area” replied Penelope pouring a shot of whiskey for herself. 

“That's why I left, being surrounded by people too far up their own asses and not interested in anything but money and the military drove me crazy.” replied Nara sweeping the floor with little energy.

“Why did you chose to come to Minstrel then?”asked Penelope taking a swig of her whiskey glass. Her blonde, luscious hair  bobbed with her long neck swinging back. Im sure she didn't even notice she was looking seductive whilst doing most mundane things. 

“I didn’t choose. I just came here -  I was in a traveling circus for 4 years of my life. We came here one day and the headmaster of the school saw my potential.” replied Nara, no longer even trying to sweep. 

“I'm sorry, a traveling circus? I wouldn't of guessed that from you in a million years.” Said Penelope leaning over the bar with her hand under her chin, staring at the Acrobat. Nara took offence to this comment.

“Well you don’t know me. I’m not some stuck up Atlas snob alright? Maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions about people- or even faunus for that matter.” sneered Nara, her emotions took control of her as as she stormed away out of the bar. Slamming the wooden doors behind her as the howling wind echoed through the bar.

Penelope’s ears perked up and she looked oddly confused and turned to Diana who was still sitting on the wooden beam.

“Sorry about her … She's a bit sensitive about her past in the circus. I think it's awesome - but a lot of people think shes dumb because of it, which is not true at all! Nara is the cleverest person I know! But … just don’t take it personally.” Said Diana looking down at the rabbit faunus with an apologetic smile. 

“Don’t worry - I wasn't anyway, I get where she's coming from - People look down on others for whatever past they have. I understand that” Replied Penelope with a faint smile whilst twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger and taking another swig of her whiskey. 

“There are many bases of the white fang dotted around the place, a lot’s happening in Vale right now, but there are white fang camps everywhere and I don’t know where that General or the army are exactly, okay?” Fennec snapped, evidence of a black eye beginning to form. ‘ _ Ghostie can punch hard’  _ he thought to himself. 

A spark of mad fire lit up in Maleficent's eyes as she glared down at the fox, leaning in close.

“So we need to go to Vale?” She asked, red hair framing her face and blocking out most of Fennec’s view as she leant closer to him.

“Don't you ever listen?? I don't know where the General is! Ask you little snow leopard friend over there! Their the one who's related to the bastard” Fennec snapped with a gritty voice and a slight grunt of pain. Maleficent glanced back at Yakir, whose eyes were locked on the floor and body tense like the words physically hurt.

“I don't know where General Briar is - okay!? They may be related to me but … That doesn't mean I know where they are!” Yakir’s voice was shaky, defensive and dangerously close to breaking with some unidentifiable emotion. Fennec could only sigh and roll his eyes at their response.

“ _ Typical -  _  My best guess would be to venture outside the protected city,  try and track them down - failing miserably some time afterwards.” Fennec drawled, slumping back in his chair., not bothering at how Ghostie was going to react, what more could she do? Get her swan scythe out and carve him into a pretty swan water fountain? 

“Sounds like a plan to me” replied Maleficent as she pulled herself up, looking like the leader she really was with her back straight and chin up. 

“Good luck Ghostie -You're gonna need it” replied Fennec, going to look down mockingly at his fingernails only to nearly slice his wrists open on the rope again.  _ Do I really have to be tied up still? _

“Well I hope the white fang find out you gave us this information - so they can slit your throat” spat Yakir, crossing their arms as Maleficent strutted away with her hips swaying and her high heeled boots echoing throughout the bar. 

“ _ OOOHH BUURN- YOU GOT ME THERE BUDDY”  _ Shouted Fennec, squirming in his seat acting like he was deeply hurt but his tone of voice obviously mocking. 

Yakir ground their teeth slightly, turning away and following Mal, tail swishing aggressively just above the ground. 

Maleficent paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Diana sitting on a wooden beam near the ceiling and Penelope resting one hip against the bar, the two lightly chatting like friends.

“And that's how I made it to Haven!” Said Diana in a cheery voice - the hole in the roof still not fixed. Penelope was lightly smiling at the girl talking to her, sipping on her whiskey every so often, the remaining half the bottle sat on the counter beside her; it was clear she could hold her drink.

“Diana, where’s Nara?” Asked Maleficent, tilting her head slightly.

Diana's head shot up and looked down at Maleficent and Yakir behind her. 

“Oh, Nara left a while back, she got a bit upset and I didn't want to disturb her - you know how she is and all” replied Diana innocently, hands still working on her slow repair job.

Yakir glanced out of the bar window and saw heavy snow being thrown against the window by howling winds. 

“I hope she's wrapped up.” 


	6. New Acquaintances and Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team head off on their latest mission, using the information they have gathered. But not before Nara meets a stranger she's sure she should know.

Nara was sat on a old wooden bench just a few yards away from the entrance to the White Rabbit. The wind was howling and brought with it snow that began to settle lightly on the rough ground. She was cold and wished she just stayed inside. With her back hunched over and her head buried in her hands, taking deep breaths; she wanted to go home, make everything go back to normal, before all this mess happened. The stupid movie nights where Diana would pick a  _ really  _ bad movie and think it was amazing, or when they'd go out for a ‘celebratory meal’ and Maleficent would always get too drunk, and even the times her and Yakir would go fishing on warm summer days and camp out all night under the stars. Nara suddenly felt terrible; she didn't like drama and she knew she was being difficult- it was her defence mechanism, it was just her way of dealing with things. 

_ Stupid, Stupid Nara. _

She wanted to apologise to Yakir for her behaviour, but she couldn’t do it. Mal would get annoyed at her for changing her mind for no reason, Yakir wouldn’t believe her anyway and her stupid pride wouldn’t let her ever actually do it. 

“Why is my pride so bloody important to me?” Nara said into the howl of the cold wind. 

 

“Everyone has their demons, and pride is one of them” replied a deep voice next to Nara’s ear. 

Nara’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked across to the person she hadn’t noticed was standing near her in the cold whether.. It was a Faunus; he wore a long, black, hooded cape with grey fur on his shoulder pads, he was tall with a lean build and from what Nara could see a long face, dark hair and piercing green eyes. His stance gave him this strange atmosphere of power and control, much of what Nara didn't have at this moment in time. He also had a long bushy snow leopard tail that ended just before his ankles, just lightly brushing against the snow.

 

“I didn't mean to scare you” said the man, his deep voice echoing through the cold air. Nara took a shaky breath as she looked him up and down. 

“It's okay - I just wasn't expecting an answer.” was her hesitant reply. 

The man gave a weak smile as the snow danced in the wind around him. He gave a calm and collected aura, probably something Nara needed right now whilst she was drowning in her sea of drama. 

“You mind if I sit here?” He asked politely. His warm breath escaping his mouth and whirling around him.

Nara shook her head in reply and his fluffy tail twitched slightly, flicking off the slowly falling flakes sticking to the fur. He sat down on the old wooden bench as it creaked with his weight. He was tall, big and muscular. He was probably a lot heavier than Nara despite how much muscle she had. They were both silent for quite some time, only letting the heavy snow that landed on them and the howling wind fill the silence.

“So, what brings a human to a mostly Faunus part of town?” Asked the Faunus, again politely. 

Nara's eyes widened as he broke the silence of deafening wind. She could tell him the truth, there was no way they were going to hide this little incident, but for now it seemed less complicated to avoid the question; lying would only end up creating more drama.

“... What's wrong with a human coming into a Faunus area? Being divided just makes more prejudice.” replied Nara looking at the man but then quickly redirecting her eyes to her feet.  _ Saying that was probably very stupid  _

“I agree” the man said, deep voice echoing through the wind, his tail swishing lightly against the soft snow and giving a light smile at Nara and looked at her up and down contently.

“Aren't you freezing?” Asked the snow leopard with a slight crack in his voice, Nara's teeth were chattering as she held her shivering body close. 

“No” she replied bluntly, not wanting to show just how cold she was, even if it wasn’t working very well. 

 

He didn’t say anything, but the long cloak that made this tall man look so mysterious was suddenly weighing heavy around Nara’s narrow shoulders. Looking round, more than a little startled, she saw the grin on his face, and the twitch of his fluffy ears that she hadn't noticed before. It was more than a little familiar, but for all the familiarity of the gesture, Nara couldn’t put a finger on where she’d actually seen it before. 

 

“Can’t have you freezing to death, now can we?” he said, and Nara pulled the warm fabric tight around her, feeling drowned by the masses of clothing. It was exceedingly warm, and she wasn’t shivering after a few seconds. She looked down at her boots, swinging her legs slightly.

 

“See, much better when you’re toasty warm.” he added, his voice soft now.   
“Aren’t you going to get cold now?”   
“I’ll survive, little bit of snow never killed anyone. Anyway, only going to be here as long as it takes a certain fox to get drunk and stumble out of the bar” said the mysterious Faunus with a slight snarl in his teeth at the mention of a certain fox. 

Nara’s eyes widened as she knew exactly who he was talking about. 

“Oh you mean Fennec, Fennec Red?” Asked Nara looking up at the tall Faunus. 

The snow leopards ears perked up at the mention of the sly fox’s name. 

“You know him?” Replied the mysterious man, his eyebrows raised and a grin forming on his face. 

“I wouldn't say I knew him. Just want to punch him really.” Said Nara, sighing sitting back on the bench. Picking at her nails in disgust.

“Same here, although he gives me Intel on things. So he has his uses.” Huffed the Faunus.  _ Nara could feel his pain on a spiritual level. _

But before she could reply, Nara saw a small figure in the distance. As she looked closer she saw Diana pressing through the wind. Desperately trying to find her way through the freezing storm. Diana was never good in cold weather, and seeing her stomp through the snow like there was no tomorrow made Nara’s heart sink.

“Nara?!? Where are you?! I'm sorry if I upset you!” Shouted Diana as it echoed in the wind. Nara instinctively stood up and instantly realised how freezing it was. 

“That your friend?” Asked the man, still sitting down on the bench.

“Yeah, I should probably get back to her. Thank you for sharing your cloak with me - you're very kind” smiled Nara. 

“No problem, if you see that sly fox tell him he's got a friend waiting outside.” Asked the Faunus.

Nara nodded, “sure thing, It was nice meeting you” 

“You too” smiled the Faunus and gave a casual wave goodbye. 

 

Nara started heading back to the White Rabbit and Diana became more visible in the storm. 

“I'm here Diana! I'm fine!” Shouted Nara 

Diana squinted her eyes and saw Nara through the snow and ran up to her, giving the acrobat a tight hug, lifting her up into the air. Nara felt her ribs were about to break against Diana’s armour and let out a quick squeak. Diana immediately let go of Nara as her feet landed onto the snow. She wasn't always aware of her own strength.

“Oh I'm so glad you're safe! Good news is we're ready to leave soon!” Diana said happily.

“Leave?” Asked Nara. 

“The White Rabbit - I thought you didn't like it here?” Replied Diana innocently. 

“Oh yeah, I jus- yanno what let's just get inside, I'm freezing my nipples off out here.” 

 

As the two girls headed inside and quickly closed the heavy wooden door the heat encased them as they sighed in relief. 

“Oh my goodness are you two okay? And you Nara, how long were you out there for?” Asked Maleficent as she ran to the entrance, her face filled with worry. 

“No need to worry about me, I'm fine. Honestly” replied Nara with her hands on Mal’s shoulders. Reassuring her leader. Nara and Diana were both soaked as the snowflakes resting in their hair and clothes starting to melt. Making Nara's blonde hair more spiky and Diana's hair like a long, golden wet mop. 

“No matter what you say I'm always gonna worry about you!” Replied Maleficent hugging Nara tightly. Nara felt her leaders warm body incase her with a homely feel, also making Mal very wet. Smiling against her leader's shoulder, she patted Maleficent's back assuring her she was okay. As she was in Maleficent's tight embrace, Nara saw Yakir looking at the ground, their face melancholic and their eyes dim. Nara suddenly felt terrible. She'd been treating Yakir like an outsider ever since this whole ordeal had happened, if Maleficent was strong enough to get over it, she was too. 

Nara let go of Maleficent's hug and headed towards Yakir looking ashamed of herself. Yakir looked up at the acrobat in surprise as Nara tried to find the right words to say. 

“I'm … Sorry Yakir. I acted really childish and … That must of been hard on you-” before Nara could finish she was interrupted by a tight hug around her chest. Yakir was smiling like a little child and was filled with glee. 

“It's okay, I know you don't like drama, so I'm sorry for causing it.” 

“Hey?! No hard feelings right? You're sorry, I'm sorry. It's all good” grinned Nara hugging the snow leopard Faunus back. 

Diana and Maleficent both smiled at the two of them, acting like both of themselves again, creating a very cheesy ending that Nara and Yakir wanted to end prematurely with the ‘ _ aawwwahh’s’  _ escaping Diana and Maleficent's mouth made them carry on nonetheless, ignoring the other half of their team. Both of them weren't really the cutesy sappy type.

 

As the heartwarming moment proceeded soft creaks could be heard from the stairs as a certain someone was walking down them. 

It was Fennec. 

And Penelope was following him, she had  untied him but he didn't look too happy about it. Before Fennec could say anything to mock the ‘sappy’ moment in front of him, Penelope glared at him, like if he even breathed his head was on the line. As Yakir and Nara left their embrace they glanced at the two Faunus standing near the banisters. 

“Thanks for not kicking us out Miss Rex, I hope I can make it up to you one day” said Maleficent walking towards the rabbit faunus a few steps before bowing her.

“And we're sorry for making a mess …” Nara said looking guiltily at the floorboards, still chipped and dented.

“It's okay guys, you fixed it all and gave my customers a good show - even if it wasn't planned.” Replied Penelope with a light smile. 

“It was super nice meeting you Pen!” Grinned Diana as the rest of the team groaned; did Diana really have to give one of the most powerful business people in Haven a nickname?

“You too Diana” Penelope smiled, Maleficent, Yakir and Nara were all stunned at how quickly Diana had apparently became friends with her, despite Penelope having a dislike towards humans. 

 

Maleficent turned to her team a gave a huge grin. “Whilst I was interrogating Fennec, Yakir thought it would be best to get our stuff from back home. I've decided I'm going to track these … Monsters. Sorry for the last minute planning, I just assumed you guys would be okay with it” said Mal blushing slightly. In the corner of the bar were 4 very big rucksacks, each labelled with their names. All brimming with things that mostly looked like necessities, but 3 bags of catnip and a couple of Lukewarm containers of already cooked Chinese food wasn't exactly ‘needed’.

“It's okay Mal, I would've said yes anyway! However, I would love a prior warning next time.” Said Nara glancing at the pre-made bags. It was Maleficent's idea to have them on call in the first place is they needed to travel unexpectedly.  _ I guess you can never be too prepared. _

 

Whilst team MYND put their bags on and covered up nice and warm the sun was just about to rise and the storm had almost blown over. Before they said their farewells to their new voluptuous business friend Penelope, Nara remembered something. 

“Oh, Fennec- there's a friend outside to see you” Said Nara bitterly, still having a dislike towards to fox. 

Fennec’s tail twitched and he looked at Nara straight in the eyes. 

There was a slight pause before the fox answered. “I don't have any friends” Fennec’s sarcastic tone didn’t cover up the underlying bitterness of the truth of that statement. 

“Well he said he wasn't gonna leave until you came out” replied Nara securing her bag and tightening her navy woollen scarf. 

“ _ OOOHH a secret admirer, how charming”  _ replied Fennec mockingly. Nara decided to give up with the fox, he was just too unbearable.

Before team MYND headed off they said their goodbye, mainly to Penelope, and took a flask with a hot drink in it, making the thought of the long cold journey slightly more bearable. As they headed off into the wilderness the early morning sun was shining above the mountains and reflecting blinding against the sparkly white snow. 

 

* * *

 

 

Penelope waved them goodbye into the distance in the freezing cold, the sky was an array of pink and peach like soft, fluffy marshmallows. As Penelope hugged herself in the freezing wind she turned around briskly and headed back inside. Fennec was still looking off into the distance, his eyes empty and his usual cocky smile was nowhere to be seen. 

“Fennec? You okay?” Asked Penelope shivering near the door. Her bleached hair and flopped black rabbit ears blowing in the wind - Still looking like a model.

“Yeah, I just like looking at the view, that's all.” Replied Fennec almost robotically. Penelope didn't think anything was wrong and gave the fox a light smile and headed into the bar, quickly closing the wooden door to keep the warm air trapped inside. 

As Fennec stared into the wilderness of daybreak, he felt at peace. His ginger hair blowing in the wind as he took a cigarette out of his tan jacket pocket and a lighter in the other. He lit his cigarette in his mouth and hunched over making sure the wind didn't blow his light out. His stubble scraping against his hands as his fox tail wagged to itself. Before he could enjoy his guilty pleasure, he heard light footsteps crunching their way closer through the freshly fallen blanket of snow.

“Fennec Red” a deep solemn voice said, echoing in the silence of dawn. 

Fennec took a deep breath and huffed as warm air and smoke escaped his mouth. 

“Shan Briar”


	7. Chaos in Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grim attack when the team is settling down for another cold night, and one of them is a little late to realise just how much danger the team could have been in.

"Why is it so bloody cold?" Nara grumbled, her teeth on the verge of chattering as she shivered beneath her many layers and all the spare blankets the team had brought with them.

"You see Nara, it's something called the Weather." Diana replied, throwing a few more twigs on the open fire she and Nara were huddled either side of. It was a cold and dark evening, and the team had set up camp in a decent sized clearing in what felt like a quiet part of the forest. After days of walking, they were all a little sick of the forest travelling. Luckily, there was no snow here, only because it was too cold for anything other than hail.

"Ha ha, very funny." Was Nara's sarcastic reply, pouting as another wave of violent shivers ran through her, pulling the blankets tighter around her thin shoulders.

"Shush! Mal's actually asleep for once!" Yakir whispered down to the pair, before they went back to scribbling something or other into a small notebook they had. The Faunus was on lookout duty, but it was more like listen-out right now. Perched up in a tree, a leg slung each side of the branch they were sat on and back against the main trunk.

"Sorry!" Diana whispered back up, glancing over to the little tent at the edge of the fire's glow where Mal was sleeping. Maleficent had a bad case of stress induced insomnia and rarely slept. So when she did, the team tried their best to keep her like that, even though they were much better at accidentally waking her up; Diana being loud or managing to fall on her, Mal rolling on one of Nara's throwing knives that had managed to get in her bedding, or Yakir opening a tin of tuna and stinking the place out. The three were desperate for their leader to get a decent night's sleep, stress and constant travel was a bad enough combo as it was.

Diana scooted slightly closer to the fire, throwing some more sticks onto it as Nara abandoned her attempt to keep herself warm with blankets and started rummaging in her bag, the crackle of plastic packaging catching the other two's ears as the team's self-appointed chef withdrew a bag of marshmallows and three skewers.

"I can't live off fruit and tins and fish forever, okay?" Nara said with a smirk, handing Diana a skewer and then Yakir one as they scrambled down from the tree. As they all started to roast marshmallows over the glowing embers, there were several hums of approval. And as the three warriors bit into the slightly blackened melted marshmallowy heavens, there was a soft noise of appreciation of the much needed sugary deliciousness.

Content in their marshmallowy paradise, the sudden cracking noise had Yakir's ears twitching, gulping down the rest of the sugary treat with melted marshmallow stuck to their pale cheek. Diana and Nara noticed the Faunus tensing, looking around cautiously for whatever noise their teammate had heard, unquestioningly trusting Yakir's instincts. Travelling through unprotected lands was dangerous, requiring someone to always be on watch; Yakir's almost perfect night-vision and enhanced hearing was a huge bonus even in forests where Diana was the most at home. Grimm were teething everywhere. Pale green eyes raking the treeline for some sign of movement, Yakir's fluffy tail swept back and forth against the long grass in agitation. Every tiny cracks and pops of the embers on the fire were loud against the silence, and every tiny burning firefly that drifted up from the flames was as bright as the stars gleaming through the leafy canopy.

No one wanted to break the silence, less they had their heads ripped off.

The tremble of the ground was preceded by the sound of splintering wood as a huge tree crashed to the ground, as two Ursa emerged from the dark forest. Only their glowing red eyes and growls gave the two human girls much of a clue where the Grimm were. Diana and Yakir pulled their weapons from their backs as Nara sent two knives twirling into One Ursa's eyes, blinding it as it gave an agonised scream. It began to thrash about, knocking into trees as the other started to run full speed towards the campfire's glow. The pair with guns both managed to pull their triggers twice at it, before Diana was throwing down two red portals to get the three out of it's way, giving them all a potential advantage, if Diana and Nara had been able to see where to aim.

With only the dim campfire and red glow of grimm eyes, Nara and Diana were fighting almost as blind as the blinded Ursa. Yakir looked to the blinded Ursa, stumbling about and threatening to topple yet more trees, and sprinted towards it, only to get swatted aside by one of it's huge paws. The still-sighted Ursa turned, charging for Diana and Nara.

“Yakir!” Diana yelled as she spotted the pair of red eyes getting speedily closer to them. Nara tried to distract the Ursa by throwing several knives at it, but the darkness wasn’t helping Nara’s aim, those that hit barely bothering the huge creature.

_ Now this is just tedious.  _ Yakir thought as they rolled back onto their feet. Their green eyes examined the blind Ursa and an idea popped into mind. Yakir closed their eyes and ran at the blind Ursa again, jumping up onto it’s back before it could notice, with a lilac aura forming around Yakir's fingers as they grabbed two fistfuls of fur. They took a deep breath and the growling disappeared. The Ursa stopped moving, no longer a creature of destruction, but gave a challenging roar. The other Ursa stopped short of barreling over the other two, turning towards the blind one, growling and preparing to charge.

The two Ursa charged, colliding hard growling and roaring in turn, grappling and slashing at each other til the blind grimm’s jaws closed around the Ursa, sinking sharp teeth deep despite the otherworldly scream the grimm made. Tighter and tighter, as Yakir jumped, smashing the blade of their axe into it’s skull; the final blow that made the screaming stop. Yakir turned round, and the blind Ursa lowered its head submissively, before the faunus used the blade at the other end of their axe to stab through it’s skull as well.

Breathing laboured and sweat threatening to freeze even as it dripped from them, Yakir grunted as they tugged the blade free from the monster's skull. Stumbling into the circle of the campfire's glow, where Nara and Diana had returned in an effort to try and see  _ something _ , Diana scooped Yakir into a hug, letting the short Faunus' feet dangle above the ground.

“I always get chills when you do that!!” said Diana with glee, pushing her cheek against Yakir’s as they thought.  _  Why does Diana have to be so tall?   _

Nara gave a smile at the two before her eyes widened suddenly in panic.

“Maleficent!” She muttered under her breath and then sprinted towards the Ursa trampled tent. Diana dropped Yakir to the floor, hot on Nara’s heels towards the sea of broken canvas. Yakir was about to make a sarcastic comment about people dropping them all the time until they saw just why.

Nara and Diana reached where Maleficent’s tent was, starting to rummage through the mess of fabric, both girls heard heavy breathing; clearly it was Mal. They followed their ears and reached the source; the destroyed tent was smothering her and Nara cut it open with on of her many throwing knives, expecting to see something horrible.

As the knife tore open the fabric, there was a sudden hint of red through the green fabric, Nara started getting anxious as she tried to focus on getting Maleficent out.

“Mal!! Are you okay?? Answer me!” Yelled Nara as she sliced open more of the canvas. Diana hovered over Nara shoulder in concern, not knowing what to do, as she let out erratic breaths.

 

Yakir reached the other two, not understanding what all the fuss was about. They’d have heard something if Mal wasn’t alright, the girl could scream when she wanted to.

  
  


Nara became erratic and eventually found Mal’s round and defined face. She had dribble coming out of her mouth and what she seemed to be doing; snoring. 

She was fast asleep. 

“You've got to be kidding me” Nara commented dryly with her eyebrows furrowed and her blonde hair spiking up more than usual. 

“A pair of Ursa attacked our base and she was fast asleep through all of it?!?“ yelled Nara waving her arms around in annoyance. Diana replied with a giggle and Yakir with a snicker. Maleficent was happily sleeping away in the fetal position with a slight snore. Nara gave a sigh, rolled her eyes and turned to her teammates. 

“At least she's still asleep - I can't imagine what would've happened if that Ursa woke her up” 

“It would have been even more dead” replied Diana with a smirk. 

They were all silent for a bit, only hearing the sound of a crackling fire and Mal’s snoring. Yakir was starting to get hungry,  _ really hungry.  _ They'd been living off nuts, berries and fish for nearly a week and quite frankly, they had enough of it.  _ They needed some meat.  _

 

All of a sudden, the sound of a mighty roar came from Yakir. Their stomach. Maleficent shot up at the sound with her hair messy and her eyes deep with bags under them. Yakir stared at Maleficent in embarrassment.  _ She sleeps through a whole Ursa fight but gets waken up by a stomach rumbling?  _

 

“yoU FucKinG-” yelled Maleficent with her static red hair and drool dripping down from her lips. She looked like a mad person, realising then that the campsite had been trampled all over and that she had just yelled at a stomach, she tried to act ‘normal’.

“ … What … happened?” Asked Maleficent scratching her eyes, making the black bags under her eyes even darker with yesterday's smudged eyeliner.

 

“You slept through an Ursa attack you idiot” huffed Nara, her arms crossed in annoyance. “But you get woken up by Yakir’s stomach?? I thought you were dead for a second! What even are you?” 

Maleficent pouted at her teammates remark.  _ Not like she could complain though. Mal often fell asleep at the most awkward of times.  _

“Hey, hey, hey, it's okay! No one got hurt! And that's what's important part - right?” Gleamed Diana trying to calm the frustration before it got out of control. 

Nara sighed and glanced at Yakir. 

“I guess, but maybe something is wrong with Yakir's stomach” said Nara examining Yakir up and down. 

“Or maybe I'm just hungry” Yakir replied with deadpan expression and tone, a slight glare directed at the team’s self appointed chef.

“You just ate!” Replied Nara not believing someone so short could have the appetite of a beast. 

Yakir sneered not wanting to argue and quickly turned away to go back up in the tree they were station in before the Ursa attack. 

Diana laughed awkwardly to break the tension and whacked Nara on the back in a friendly way. Still not 100% aware of their own strength. 

“AHAHaha! You're so funny Nara!” Coughed Diana, gleaming at the shorter girl. 

 

“I'm going back to sleep, and I don't care if it's a stomach or an Ursa - just shut up” Maleficent stated before scratching her head, giving a yawn and then falling back down to the floor, almost instantly snoring. 

As Maleficent snored away, Nara and Diana were left to their own devices and chatted about frivolous things until the early hours. 

  
  


As morning rose, so did Diana. The sky was filled with light pinks and purples from the clouds. It was Diana’s turn to keep watch, and she loved the cold early morning breeze. Her golden syrup hair cascaded down her back as she gently walked around the campsite, looking for Grimm that could pounce out at any moment. But it seemed quiet - almost too quiet. 

_ ‘Maybe the grimm took a nap? No! Grimm don’t take naps Diana - jeez’  _ She thought to herself, she got flying colours in Grimm Assessment in Haven; Why did she suddenly think they could nap?

It was silent for a while as she heard her team sleeping.  _ Especially Maleficent.  _ Despite her lady like status she did sleep like a log, a very loud log, Diana would never say that though.

She liked her head.

 

As she flopped down on the tree stump near the campsite, she smelt something.  _ Something good.  _

Diana furrowed her eyebrows, her red eyes scattering around wondering where this delicious smell was coming from. She wanted to follow the scent but she didn't want to leave her teammates so vulnerable without anyone on watch. Or maybe it was a trap?  _ What am I thinking? Beowolves can't make croissants!  _ Diana thought. Having an internal argument with herself, wondering if she should go for the delicious, pastry smell or not. 

‘ _ Everyone would be annoyed at me if there was food and I didn't find it - right?’  _ She tried justifying her actions. Not before long, she got up and left  a small note on Yakir’s notepad. 

‘I smelt some croissants - I'll be back in a bit! ’ she wrote with an excessive amount of smiley faces, kisses and hearts.  As she wandered off, trailing her nose, trying to find these mysterious croissants she could smell so vividly.  

 

As Maleficent rose from her slumber, eyes sticky with mascara and her lips chapped from matte lipstick staying on for too long, she saw Yakir slouching against the large tree and Nara laying on her front, seeing Nara’s back rise with her breathing and Yakir flicking their ears every now and again, just like a kitten. Maleficent yawned loudly -  _  very loudly.  _ It could almost be considered a scream. Yakir and Nara both shot up at their leader’s screech, both clenching their weapons in disarray. Wondering what animal was being tortured. 

 

Maleficent stared at her teammates in embarrassment as they were still half asleep, trying to figure out what was going on. 

“Sorry …” Maleficent said looking down in shame. 

Yakir’s pale green eyes twitched from the rude awakening and let go of their axe pathetically giving a sigh at Mal. 

“It's okay … Just, try not to do it again” replied Nara scratching her head. The bags under her eyes and Nara’s twisted expression said otherwise though. 

Maleficent smiled weakly and reflexively went to glance at Diana. But she was nowhere to be seen. 

“Where's Diana? Isn't she supposed to be on guard now?” Asked Maleficent curiously. 

Nara and Yakir both looked around them for no avail. Diana had gone ‘walkies’. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Breaking Bread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana goes walkies, and things go wrong in general.

The sky was starting to turn blue while the white and peach fluffy clouds dispersed in the sky. The trees were tall and mighty, giving home to many creatures - the cute kind and the not so cute ones. 

Diana was walking along a narrow worn path cheerfully, following her nose like a puppy and closing her eyes in bliss at the smell of a certain French pastry. Her brown leather boots stepped lightly on the ground, making her look like a child skipping down a dangerous path - ignorant to what dangers could lie ahead. 

But for some reason, Diana was getting a sense of ‘Deja vu’. Everything around her seemed similar - but not. 

She looked around her, examining her surroundings and it's aura. She was the top of her class in Aura methodology. But it came very naturally to her. She could sense people's, animals and even plants aura’s. So even though what around her seemed familiar, what they were feeling was not. The trees, flowers and animals were on edge. 

Something must of happened. 

 

Diana’s heart was launching for her to go after the croissants, but her mind was uneasy and filled with confusion. 

There was a loud bang from a distance, birds began to scatter as smoke came from afar. The croissants would have to wait. 

“Great! Now we've lost Diana - probably the worst person ever to lose in a forest.” Grumbled Nara buttoning up her grey tailed waist coat. Diana was known to go missing sometimes, not because she got in trouble or anything, but she got curious about a lot of things. Cats, food, weapons you name it and Diana would be fascinated by it for hours. 

“Guys - you might want to read this” commented Yakir looking slightly concerned. Maleficent looked up at the Faunus as she finished tying her black leather wedged shoes. 

Nara and Maleficent both gathered round Yakir as they read the piece of paper. 

‘I smelled croissants - I'll be back later’ said the note with an abundance of hearts and kisses surrounding it. 

Yakir, Nara and Mal all looked up at each other in confusion. 

_ ‘Who the hell was making croissants in the middle of nowhere?’  _

 

The sky was becoming clogged with smoke. Diana’s red eyes widened and tried to find the source of it. It could be an abundance of things, Grimm, people or just a natural forest fire. But this didn't feel right or natural. Diana’s golden hair blew in the wind as she trekked towards the smoke’s source. Not knowing what lay ahead. The forest was no longer happy and cheery, but bleak and dark. Diana felt chills ripple down her spine, the hairs on her neck standing on end and goosebumps were beginning to form.  _ Something really wasn't right.  _

 

As she came closer to the smokes source she heard yelling - Diana lunged forward, sprinting across the forest path, running as fast as she could to help the person who was in need.  _ That was her job after all.  _

It started getting hotter, fire was visible amongst the forest and the blaze was heating up everything around it. Diana skidded towards the burning forest, her scarlet eyes focussed on finding the person who was yelling. 

“Hello! I'm here to help! Where are you?” Shouted Diana as the fire crackled against the trees. 

Diana started sweating, panting from running as the smoke clogged up her lungs. She started coughing as she tried to find the mysterious yeller.

She soon came across some sort of bonfire, but there were no people having fun around it - just the stench of something foul. As the fire was ablaze a man walked behind the bonfire, though the smoke made it hard to see what he looked like. 

“Hello! Are you in danger ?” Shouted Diana in a polite way. 

The man didn't reply. 

“Are you hurt?” Diana shouted again walking towards the man through the smoke. The closer she got to him, the harder it was for her to see. Her vision was blurry and her lungs were almost itching.

 

And then it all went dark. 

“Why did Diana go off without us? She should've at least woken us up” grumbled Nara walking behind her leader Maleficent.

“Because You're a nightmare to wake up and Mal would've probably killed her.” Replied Yakir straining behind Nara.

“Then why didn't she wake you up?” Replied Nara giving a smirk. 

Yakir pouted at Nara’s cocky face. “I dunno - have you ever heard of the term ‘don't touch a sleeping cat’?” 

 

“Guys could you please be quiet? I'm trying to track the most light footed person in the world tracks - I would really appreciate it if you would stop squabbling” Maleficent said with a stern voice turning around and furrowing her eyebrows. 

Yakir and Nara both looked embarrassed and then nodded whilst giving a quick hum. 

Maleficent, Yakir and Nara carried on walking for a while, staying silent so Maleficent could stay focussed on the path. As they all stopped trying to figure out which way Diana went, Nara then broke the silence.

“Uh ... Mal, you might not have to follow tracks anymore” said Nara looking up. Yakir and Maleficent both looked up and saw smoke covering the sky above them. White clouds now turned greyish black and flocks of birds were heading away from the flames. 

“How the hell did I not notice that?” Muttered Maleficent under her breath. 

 

Diana woke up with her eyes sticky and her head pounding, the sun shone above her and the bright blue sky made her eyes squint. She felt like she could hear loud drumming - no she  _ could hear loud drumming. _ Diana shot up instantly and was greeted to a large amount of people surrounding her. They all stepped back when she stood up, these people didn't seem dangerous. But maybe that's because they were all incredibly small compared to Diana. They all smiled with glee at her as Diana’s golden hair blew in the wind. Her scarlet red eyes filled with confusion at the whole situation. But suddenly a big grin grew on her face. 

 

This was her home. 

 

The sound of oriental like music was playing as the wind grew stronger and stronger, making the trees wave in the wind and leaves fall to the ground. Her hair caressed her face as she gleamed at these small people.  _ No, her family.  _

 

“Diana Rosenburg!” Yelled a booming voice across the crowd. Diana tensed up as everyone around her stepped back, now almost afraid of her. Footsteps became louder as dust escaped into the air. Diana gulped, not knowing why she felt like a child being told off. As the footsteps stopped, a large hand was placed on Diana’s shoulder; the huntress turning her head slowly at the touch. As she glanced over her shoulder, her red gleaming eyes examined the person before her.  

It was a shortish man with deep green eyes, just like the colour of a fir tree. He had brown shaggy hair that looked light and fluffy, along with brown stubble across his face. He wore a unbuttoned beige shirt that had grass and mud stains on it, dark brown trousers that rolled up at his calves and bare feet. With a short body and not a incredibly muscular physique, a large oak tree tattoo went up his abdomen and burst into branches on his chest. From first impression you would think he was harmless, but his deep green eyes and slightly intimidating tattoo made you think again. 

There was silence for some time between the two. 

“Croissant?” Gleamed the man, looking up at Diana whilst munching into a pastry. 

 

“Uncle Peter!” Shouted Diana as she gave the man a hug and picked him up into the air. 

“Hey I'm not that old!” Yelled Peter, getting slightly dizzy from how high up he was. 

“I know - but you seem more of an uncle than a brother” Diana gleamed. Peter gave a sigh as Diana put him back down. Everyone now surrounding the two, like they were celebrities. Peter wasn't really Diana’s uncle. But he somewhat raised her like an older brother, everyone in this tribe was family, well not technically but they all viewed each other like that

 

“What brings you back here Miss?” Said a young boy looking up at the huntress. Diana scruffier his hair and smiled. 

“I'm on a secret mission right now- but I happened into bump into you guys on the way!” 

“You forgot where you lived?” Said Peter, raising his fuzzy eyebrow at the girl. Diana gave an embarrassed chuckle at the remark. 

_ ‘This place is literally in the middle of nowhere, okay?’  _ She thought to herself. 

 

“What kind of secret mission?” Gleamed the child, tugging at Diana’s black short skirt. 

“Oh well if I told you it wouldn't be a secret now would it?” Replied Diana smiling down at the young boy. 

“It's so good to have you back Diana! We've had more Grimm attacks since you left- you'll be so useful keeping them down!” an elderly woman shouted from the crowd, making Diana’s heart sink. She couldn't stay for long, besides she had to get back to her team. They must be worried sick.

“Remember, she's on a mission. She can't stay for long. But I'm sure she can stay to have a bite to eat? Right?” Peter said smiling. Diana looked at him giving a faint smile. 

“Alright - just for a bit. But I should be getting back, I left my team to find croissants and then there was a fire an- wait! Is anyone hurt? Did the fire get anything?” Said Diana with a slight panic creeping into her voice. 

The crowd looked back at her with blank confusion.

“Now that you mention it there was smoke from the East. But we just thought it was some campers or Grimm” replied Peter scratching the back of his head. 

Diana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “But I swear there was a man - or someone who was there! I heard yelling and I went rushing towards it, but I suddenly blacked out …” Said Diana looking down at the floor with puzzlement.

“I think you might be seeing things Diana, we didn't hear any yelling either” replied Peter, his dark fuzzy eyebrows furrowing more and more at everything Diana was saying. 

Diana looked up from the ground at Peter; he seemed concerned. Maybe even thinking she was crazy or something. The unprotected kingdoms was no place for someone who wasn't 100% there. 

 

“I swear I saw somet-” As Diana was talking she was interrupted but Peter grabbing her arm and taking her towards a large oak tree with pale green leaves sprouting on it. 

“Look Miss Giant - I don’t want everyone thinking you’re crazy okay?” Peter said looking up into Diana’s scarlet red eyes. His dark green eyes contrasting with their stare as he looked down. 

“You’re like a legend here okay? Seeing you like this would freak them out!” said Peter looking concerned. Diana looked down at her tribe’s leader, not as her Brother or as her Uncle - but as her leader. 

“I'm not crazy!” I saw someone standing by the fire! Why would I lie to you Peter?” 

“It's not that you’re lying to me but you think something happened that did not!” 

“Yanno what - forget eating here, I'm going back to find my team, I know they’ll believe me” 

Peter sighed as he tried to grab hold of Diana’s arm ahain but she shrugged him off, his face saddened as Diana walked through the crowds with a annoyed sneer that did not suit her soft face.

“Miss!! Are you leaving already??” said a young boy looking up at the Huntress. Diana’s face dropped as she looked at the young boy. 

“I need to get back to my friends” She said with a faint smile and a wave goodbye as she headed off into the forest, her family, still filled with pride for her, watched her walk away back into the trees.

  
  


“Hey Nara, did you somehow manage to set fire to this place?” said Yakir examining some blackened wood,  Nara scoffed at the faunus’ comment. 

“I was with you when this place set on fire!” 

“Well you circus freaks always have tricks up your sleeves right?” 

“I was a ringmaster - not a bloody fire eater” 

The pair were both expecting Maleficent to tell them both to be quiet and get along, but there was no response to their bickering. Maleficent was far off into the forest walking slowly, going deeper and deeper into the scorched wood.

Maleficent felt a sense of nostalgia. The blackened trees reminded her of that fateful day, she looked emotionless as she glanced at the destruction the fire had caused, feeling only sadness but kept it to herself. 

 

“Hey Nara, should we go see if she’s okay?” asked Yakir, worried about their leader. Nara looked at Maleficent slowly walking through the trees and sometimes stopping to look at them. 

“Nah, I think she’ll be fine, it's Mal after all. Plus - she might just need some time to herself.” replied the acrobat. They both gave a faint smile at each other, both now sitting down on the rough ground, waiting for the leader to be okay with carrying on their ‘Adventure of the Missing Diana’.

 

Maleficent stopped in her tracks for a while, taking in the destruction for the 7th time. She found it peaceful in some way, but saddening knowing that many creatures lived here and they couldn’t anymore. It comforted her a little but she still felt empty; it was a long time ago, she knew she needed to get over it. She was in a sense before all of this drama happened. It was like a reopened wound, it was sore and itchy but she just had to wait for time to heal it again. Just as she was ready to head back to Yakir and Nara she saw something moving quickly in the edge of her eye. She flinched and turned to its source. Her stance was wide and ready to defend herself; it was probably just a squirrel or something. She sighed as she stood up tall, her mind was fuzzy and was probably over reacting she thought to herself. As she turned back to Yakir and Nara she heard a thump behind her. Maleficent instantly turned round, but nothing was there. Feeling like her mind was playing tricks on her, blinking quickly as she examined her surroundings. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned to her team again; not feeling so peaceful anymore. 

As she power walked towards Yakir and Nara she felt a large hand grab her waist and another covering her mouth. 

 

“So this one time I was throwing a knife to this guy right and he underestimated me so he thought he could catch my knives right? So I quickly made the knife weigh a ton and well - Long story short, he only has 4 fingers on one hand now” Said Nara gleaming  with her legs crossed on the floor. Yakir was chuckling to themselves as they put their hand over their mouth. As the laughter died down, they glanced at where Maleficent was standing a few minutes ago only to realise she was gone. Yakir stood up immediately as they suddenly felt their heart drop. Nara looked up at Yakir and then the burned forest. 

“Where’s Mal?” sneered Yakir. Nara’s smile was no longer visible. 

“She might of gone further in? You know she can be reckless sometimes” Said Nara trying to make Yakir’s tail stop swishing with anxiety. 

“She would tell us though. Wouldn’t she?” replied Yakir with a lump in their throat. Nara sighed as she was anxious too, but she knew Maleficent sometimes didn’t like to be followed when she was upset. The first time they all saw Maleficent cry was when she found out about Yakir. 

Nara stood up and walked into the scorched forest, Yakir went to follow but Nara shook her head at the Faunus.

“What?! I'm going to look for her too!” Yakir snarled. Nara frowned and held Yakir’s shoulders. 

“I know what you’re like - you’ll panic if you can’t find her straight away - Mal often just .. dissolves into darkness, her breathing isn't exactly audible either so just chill - okay? I’m going in because I have a little voice in my head that tells me when things are okay - Okay?” Said Nara giving a faint smile. 

 

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

 

“You’re deaf as shit! And hello! Faunus here, I can hear and see things you can’t!” sneered Yakir. 

 

“Even more of the reason you’re gonna stay here” smirked Nara as she clicked her fingers and Yakir’s black leather boots suddenly felt heavy - very heavy. Yakir’s eyes widened

“Wha? That doesn't make any sense!”. But before they could strangle her, Nara was already off into the forest. Yakir tried to shuffle their way in but was failing miserably. 

“You bitch!” sneered Yakir trying to lift their feet off the ground.

“Love you too” Yelled Nara. 

  
  


Maleficent squirmed violently in the grasp of  her attacker. She tried to move her arms so she could telekinesis her way out of the tight hold that was this person's arms. But her hands were firmly together. Her eyes narrowed as she lifted her leg above her shoulder and kicked her attacker in the chin. There was a low grunt and their grip loosened slightly but that was enough for her to squirm out. Maleficent crashed to the floor and quickly got up moving her arms in a dance like manner and a blackened tree launched towards her assailant. She then quickly ran towards the path where she was but she suddenly felt heavy as her body slammed to the ground, her face in the soot as a boot pinned down the back of her neck. She grabbed their leg as they plummeted to the floor next to her. They were too broad to be a woman but you could never  _ really _ know, but they had black shaggy hair and what seemed to be Faunus like traits. But Maleficent thought it was more useful getting away then basking in her attackers appearance, even if it would come in handy later. Maleficent scrambled to get up but felt her attacker’s body on her back as he tried to grab her hands together before she could throw another tree at him. Mal grunted as her face stuck to the ground again with soot gathering in her mouth. It felt like she was being arrested but she’d had done nothing wrong, and this guy certainly wasn’t anyone offical like police. She was about to scream for help but before she could try she felt the man's hand cover her mouth but before she could retaliate he whispered in her ear. 

“If I even hear a peep from you, your teammates are dust” His voice was deep and raspy. Maleficent's dark eyes turned wide in fear for Yakir and Nara. 


	9. Re-Meeting Acquaintances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever since I updated this, and I've got at least another chapter after this already written out.

Nara followed several small holes in the ground - not so much footprints but she knew it was the heels on Malificent’s boots. Just before Nara was about to head back to Yakir, telling them that all was well, she saw the holes in the ground had suddenly stopped. Nara’s eyes narrowed and looked around the burnt forest; noticing a broken, blackened tree that didn't look like it should be there. Now she wished she didn't almost guarantee things would be okay to Yakir - they would never let this one go. 

Nara felt uneasy as she headed off the beaten track of the wood, trending on ash and dried leaves that crunched sickeningly under each footstep. As she stopped to take a look at some markings on the ground, she heard noises coming from a little distance off. The source was beyond a fallen tree and some greenish, yellow bushes. Nara gripped one of her many throwing knives and treaded carefully, trying to erase her breath and step carefully amongst the fallen leaves.  The lump in her throat grew and her whole body trembled as she heard a muffled feminine scream, which was abruptly cutoff. Nara felt like she had been stabbed in the chest with adrenalin and tension, electric blue eyes widening as she stormed past the blackened trees and leaped over the bushes ending up at the noise’s source. 

Nara’s jaw dropped, the man she met outside of The White Rabbit was pinning Mal to the floor with her face covered in soot and ash as he tied her hands up. Nara had never seen Maleficent look so defeated, her face in the ground, weaponless and a strange tall Faunus was on top of her binding her hands together.

The man looked up at Nara and raised his dark bushy eyebrows as he gave a sneer.

“Hello stranger.”

* * *

 

Diana felt bad leaving so soon, but she didn't want to become to accustomed to her life before becoming a huntress. She would miss it too much and feel like she had to stay, and she couldn’t leave her team unexpectedly team MYND would just be MYN - and that didn't have the same catch to it. As Diana was strolling along back to where she thought the campsite was she saw a long fiery hair strand floating in the wind, there was no mistaking it that it was Mal’s. 

_ Did Mal, Yakir and Nara all come looking for her?  _

Diana’s heart sank as she felt bad for troubling her teammates, but also because this forest was a death trap to anyone who wasn't accustomed to forest terrain. Not like her team couldn’t take care of themselves, but one was used to snow and mountains, the other type ropes and circus rinks and the other fancy mansions. Trees were Diana’s thing 

She quickened her pace in this maze of trees, Katana in hand - ready to attack Grimm or unfriendly passersby. 

Suddenly a large bang not too far from her in the West went off: some sort of explosion. Diana’s golden hair blew in the wind as birds flew above her, escaping the flames. She moved towards it at a steady jog, seeing a figure through the haze of still lingering smoke. Her face turned into a determined grin, this could possibly the fire starter she saw - or Nara. 

Nara’s face turned sour as she saw this man - the same man she thought was kind and just a passing good samaritan. Oh how she changed her opinion on him in a matter of seconds. His face was twisted as he slowly stood up, now pressing his foot firmly on Maleficent’s back. 

“Sorry- Is this your teammate?? Well I hope she’s told you that she’s not really who you think she is” Said the man, kneeling down again to grab Maleficent’s scarlet red hair in his fist and showing Nara her battered face. 

“She's a little rich kid cockroach who managed to get away in an extermination” 

Nara snarled at the man but before she could do anything, Maleficent grabbed his neck and pulled him down to the floor, a low grunt came from the man as she started to strangle him, tears streaming down her face and she started to scream in anger.

“Well cockroaches are hard to kill you bastard!” yelled Maleficent, tightening her grip on his throat.

Nara stood paralyzed in her choices with the situation, knowing that if she tried to intervene, the mystery stranger could gain the upper hand and beat them, or run off; but that if she did nothing, Mal wasn’t going to stop.

In these circumstances, doing nothing sounded better. But suddenly a swift movement ran past her and tackled Maleficent, rolling them both off the now gasping man

It was Yakir. 

The faunus man was coughing violently as he went into the fetal position. Snow leopard tail curling up against him and ears flattening back into his messy black hair.

Yakir, barefoot, was panting as they slowly looked down at Maleficent. Ash was on her face and her hands were tied together with a brown rope, already causing burns on her wrists. Fumbling, Yakir started undoing them with shaking fingers.

Nara ran over, leaning down to help check and calm the obvious anger boiling behind Mal’s eyes, were she fixated on the Faunus man. Yakir stood up, taking Soulsiphon from their back to point the barrel at the stranger.

The Faunus man grunted as he slowly sat up, his vision blurry and his nose starting to bleed, as the blood trickled down to his mouth, the metallic taste woke him up slightly. He could see a small but broad figure in front of him, with a fluffy tail coiled around their leg with apprehension and pointy ears heading downwards in fear. 

A smirk grew on his face. 

“Yakir? Is … Is that you?” 

Before Yakir could respond there a loud thump and he toppled down to one side, unconscious. 

It was Diana, standing over the faunus, who she had just hit round the head with her gun. Nara’s eyes widened at the gentle giant who had just nearly hammered a man's head in. Yakir gasped and scrambled down to make sure the fellow Faunus was still breathing. Awkward tension built in the silence between the team. 

“Sorry …” Diana mumbled “I just assumed he was trouble and all...” 

Maleficent, Yakir and Nara all gave a familiar glance at the tall girl.

“Well - you weren't wrong” grunted Maleficent, new arms now free and was rubbing them together, glaring murder at Yakir. 

Nare broke the once more growing awkward silence.

“Did you find those fucking croissants then Diana?” 


	10. A House does not mean Home

“So where's this village of yours Diana?” Asked Nara trying to defuse the tension as her and Yakir carried the unconscious Faunus with his muscular arms around their necks. His feet tied up with the rope he send to kidnap Maleficent earlier. His fluffy tail dragging against the ground, picking up dust, sand and ash.

“Not too far Nara - maybe another 5 or 10 minutes, depending on how fast you go with him dragging you down.” Replied Diana chuckling to herself. She was walking in front of the group, leading the way to this mysterious village. Nara’s face went sour.

“I still think we should kill him now before he can do anymore damage” said Maleficent trailing behind the group, keeping an eye on the Faunus man in case he woke up on the journey to Diana's village.   
“Now although I think that's a good idea, his information is quite important and is useful since yanno … He's white fang and all” said Nara.

Yakir said nothing whilst looking at the ground, the Faunus man's breathing was slow but heavy as I went against Yakir’s neck.

 _‘Why did Shan have to appear now? He's gonna get at least one of us killed’_ Yakir thought to themselves. _Having to explain this 2ould be fun._

Before Yakir could overthink the situation anymore, Diana stopped in her tracks making Nara and Yakir almost bump into her back.

“Hey if you're gonna stop so suddenly could you do it at a point where we’re _not_ right behind you?” Huffed Nara as she readjusted the Faunus around her.   
“I think it's this left - or it could be the next left. Or we just missed it” Diana said in a strangely confident manner.

“Diana!! Can you just please direct us the right way! My legs are about to fall off if i carry this beast anymore - he’s heavy!” Nara said whilst huffing. Yakir gave a sneer at the word ‘Beast’ but couldn’t argue with Nara - Shan had earned that kind of insult.

Diana sighed as her eyes dotted around the place.

“Its this left - there’s a weird tree near by - I can tell!”

The team rolled their eyes at Diana’s directions, but they didn’t know where to go either so she was their best bet -

 

Maleficent was quiet for most of the journey, if she spoke it was something about ‘killing the filthy bastard’ but she knew she couldn’t so often just made glares at the faunus man.

“What's his name?” Said Maleficent in the silence of the team walking, Yakir’s snow leopard ears perked up but soon drooped.

“His - his name is Shan” Replied Yakir hesitantly, not looking at Maleficent as they walked to Diana’s village, lugging around their stupid brother.

Maleficent repeated the name in a raspy tone - almost croaky.

 

“Ah! Here we are - I left so suddenly before, I hope Peter doesn't get mad again” Said Diana marching  towards the hidden village, almost instantly cheering up.

Everyone was surprised at how pretty this village was, quaint little huts with steam coming out of chimneys and children running around playing. It was weird to think that this village was literally surrounded by monsters 24/7.

Nara raised her eyebrow at this Peter fellow - Diana had never mentioned a guy called Peter before, Diana didn’t really talk about her tribe much though, but for all Nara knew, Peter would be a fucking tree and it wouldn’t surprise her.

 

“Hey Everyone! I’m back!” Cheered Diana as she wove her arm in the air, grabbing the attention of few of the villagers, even the little boy from before, his eyes widened as he ran up to Diana with his arms open. Diana picked up the small boy effortlessly.   
“Miss me?”   
“I did! Miss Diana doesn't come back often so I thought I wouldn’t see you before my birthday” said the little boy frowning slightly.

Diana grabbed his chubby cheeks and grinned “Well I would’ve gotten you a present anyway!”

The boy smiled and rested his forehead against her breast armour.

“Who are these people Diana?” Said the boy's mother, holding another baby in her arm, bumping it up and down to help the baby stop crying. Yakir’s face scowled at the crying baby.

_Yakir hated crying babies._

Diana turned to introduce her teammates, and their prisoner.

“This is Maleficent, She's our team leader!” Said Diana showing her tribe Maleficent. Mal lightly smiling at the people.   
“This is Yakir, they’re a faunus!” as Diana said, Yakirs tail wagged in agitation.   
“And this is Nara, She used to work for a traveling circus! And altogether we make team MYND - Its pronounced Mind” said Diana grinning.   
“And who's the big kitty?” asked a little girl almost fascinated by the faunus. Diana froze, thinking of how she would introduce Shan.   
“This is … an a acquaintance of ours.” said Diana nervously.

 

“So let me get this straight - you smelt croissants, tried to find them.  Ended up finding a crazy faunus who tried to kill your teammate but you ended up knocking him out and now he's in a vegetative state?” asked Peter bluntly.

Diana paused for a bit and then nodded.

Peter seemed concerned at why this man attacked Maleficent. Hunteresses get in so much trouble these days it hard to see if it's justified. But by the way Yakir was more than taking care if tying him up, Peter felt at least safe he wouldn't be causing much trouble in the village.

* * *

 

“Keep everyone away from him, he's dangerous and they have children here.” Yakir stated as soon as the Maleficent called the team meeting, huddled in a spare little house, where Peter had told them they could stay the night. Shan was safely secured upstairs.  
“So why aren't we just executing him then?” Mal suggested, not noticing Yakir flinch at the idea like the other two did.   
“He's high ranking, close to General Briar, and he'll know almost everything you want to know. You really want to **kill** such a valuable source of information? Because that makes you the monster Mal.” Yakir snapped back, tail lashing with anger, while Mal stood in perfect shock.

Silence fell across the group, anger growing between the faunus and the team leader, before Yakir turned and walked out, the three hearing footsteps going up the stairs a few moments later.

“I think we’ve had a long day, and we didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep last night, so how about we all try and get some rest?” Nara suggested tentatively, when she realised that Mal’s anger wasn't dissipating anytime soon. Diana nodded in agreement, forcing on her normal big goofy smile as the trio moved out of the room, gathering their things for sleep.

* * *

 

“Shan, wake up.”

Stirring just enough to lift his head up, Shan looked round at Yakir from the dirty old mattress Mal had deemed worthy for him. The fluffy black blanket over him definitely hadn’t been there when he’d fallen asleep: listening to the team argue about what was to be done with him. But it did look suspiciously like the two on the pile of what must have been Yakir’s bedding, it the visible snow leopard hair was any indication.

“Breakfast.” Yakir mumbled, putting down a plate of bread, butter and a bottle of water next to him. It really wasn’t much, but it was far more than he was expecting. By the time he could look back up and thank Yakir or see if there was some sort of ulterior motive, the door was closing behind their fluffy tail and the clear sound of it being locked clicked through the silence of the room.

* * *

 

The little kitchen was a hive of activity by the time Yakir made it downstairs, with Nara cooking something wonderful smelling and Diana prancing about trying to help and mostly just getting in the way. Mal clearly hadn’t woken yet, though that wasn’t overly surprising with the amount of sleep she needed to catch up on.

“Hey Yakir, breakfast should be in ten minutes or so-”  
“I’m not hungry.”   
“Oh, well then-”   
“I’m going patrolling, I should be back by lunch time.”

Grabbing Soulsiphon from where it was leant up against the door, Yakir left without another word.

“You think I should go after them?”  
“No Diana, let them blow off their anger on the grimm, rather than any of us. Now go take Mal her cup of tea and start waking her up.” Nara said, pointing at the steaming mug by the kettle before she went back to fixing breakfast, hoping that having Diana out of the kitchen for two minutes would let her finish up. Diana picked it up and went upstairs, sliding into the larger of the two bedrooms where the three girls had spent the night and Maleficent was still sleeping, Diana shaking her shoulder slightly until there was an audible groan of her coming back to consciousness.

“Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Another barely human groan, but it sounded something like recognition of what the taller huntress had said, so Diana left the mug on the little bedside table and went back down stairs. Ten minutes later, as Nara was dishing out three large helpings of eggs, bacon, toast, beans and hash browns, Mal was walking into the kitchen and plonking herself down in the nearest chair, forming herself a bacon sandwich and taking a huge bite before actually taking in her surroundings

“Where ‘kir?” she asked around a mouthful of bacon and bread  
“They left to patrol.” Nara answered, putting down some orange juice on the table as well. This was the first real meal with proper food the team had had since starting their journey, and the three present were definitely going to enjoy it while they could. Having gone a little overboard even for four people, Nara discovered that they had plenty of leftovers, which Mal set to packaging up for another time as Diana stacked the plates and cutlery up next to the sink. The familiar rhythm of the meal time was brought to a crashing halt when the trio realised that Yakir, the one who always stacked the dishwasher and did the washing up, wasn’t here to turn the stack of dirty plates and pans into sparkly clean ones again.

They didn’t have long to dwell on that though, as the sound of wood being smashed and splintering filled the girls’ ears, before the sound of glass being shattered. Nara was racing up the stairs even as Diana and Mal were running outside and round the corner of the house, just in time to see Shan drop down and land heavily on the ground out of the window. He seemed to wince slightly as he stood up, clearly trying to keep the weight off his left leg, and his right hand was dripping blood from where smashing the glass had cut open his skin. Nara’s face appeared in the broken window, a throwing knife in hand even as Diana leveled her rifle at Shan, who seemed surprisingly calm considering he had two potentially very lethal weapons pointed at him.

“Oh girls, did Yakir not tell you about me? I’m so disappointed they don’t talk about me.” he said with a smirk, raising his left hand which seemed to have a glow of lilac around it and then what looked thin lilac threads where tangling around Diana, wrapping around her arms but not seeming to hurt or in any way restrict her movement as she tried to brush them off and nothing happened. Until the strings pulled tight and Diana stopped trying to get rid of them.

“Diana?!”

She didn’t respond to Mal’s concerned tone, completely blanking her. Nara was looking down on the situation with confusion, not quite being able to see the thin threads. But when Diana lifted the rifle to aim it directly through the smashed window, Nara went pale and dodged out of sight, running down the stairs to find that in the half a minute she had been out of sight, everything had completely devolved.

For all the world, it looked like Diana was covering Shan, staying in the way between him and Mal, who was without her scythe and of very little use.

“Diana what the fuck?!” Nara snapped, drawing Diana’s attention but not Shan’s, and for just a few seconds he was left open to Mal. With considerable but invisible force, the large Faunus was thrown against the wall of the house, crumpling to the floor as Diana seemed to stumble where she stood and sort of fall to sitting on the ground, breathing heavy and hands shaking.

“...my head… inside my head…” Diana mumbled, drawing even more confusion from Nara, looking round at Mal for a potential explanation, but their team leader was too busy stalking over to Shan, who looked about ready to pass out from exhaustion, meekly raising his crossed wrists like he was offering for them to be bound again. Instead, Mal chose to flick her wrist and use her telepathy to knock him unconscious, a much safer alternative in her and the other two girls’ minds.


End file.
